22 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1305 



E. Lange and a. C. Teaman. Previous investiga- 

 tors had shown that the amount of nicotine in the 

 smoke from a oigar or a cigarette or from smok- 

 ing pipe tobacco bears no relation to the nicotine 

 in the tobacco itself. "Light" tobacco may give 

 smoke rich in nicotine, ' ' strong ' ' tobacco may 

 give smoke poor in nicotine. Storm van Leuven in 

 Holland showed that smoke from the so-called 

 nicotine-free cigars gives a smoke that contains a 

 good deal of nicotine. Since riicotine is not the 

 only poisonous constituent of smoke, Hirschfelder 

 and his collaborators studied the poisonous action 

 of the smoke itself, or rather the poisonous action 

 of extracts made from passing the smoke through 

 salt solution and through ether. The amount nec- 

 essary to kill a frog was determined. Using several 

 popular-priced brands of cigar, cigarette and pipe 

 tobacco, it was found that the smoke coming from 

 a given weight of tobacco varied somewhat, but 

 not very greatly in its poisonous action on frogs. 

 When the same weight of the same sample of to- 

 bacco was smoked in the form of a cigarette and 

 in a pipe and as a cigar there was sometimes very 

 little difference in the poisonous quality of the 

 smoke, but usually that which was smoked as a 

 cigarette was somewhat less poisonous. Neverthe- 

 less, cigars and pipes seem much stronger than 

 cigarettes. This is 'because since the burning 

 occurs chiefly along the surface of the tobacco, so 

 much more tobacco is being converted into smoke 

 at each instant in these than in the cigarettes. It 

 is largely a question of cross section. Cigars have 

 about four times the cross section of cigarettes, 

 pipes nine or ten times. If all three were smoked 

 equally fast, the smoker would get an overwhelm- 

 ing dose of nicotine from cigar and pipe. There- 

 fore, these must be smoked more slowly than the 

 cigarette and can not be inhaled. If the smoker 

 did not inhale the smoke, the cigarette would be 

 the lightest form of tobacco. 



. Some applications of protein chemistry to medi- 

 cine and pliarmacy: I. F. Haeeis. 



Action of tricJilorotertiary iutyl alcohol (chl-ore- 

 tone) on animal tissue: T. B. Aldrich and H. C. 

 Ward. The action of chloretone on animal tissue 

 has not been studied, although glands of various 

 kinds have been preserved in a sterile condition in 

 chloretone water for a number of years, without 

 any apparent injury to the active principles they 

 contain. In order to test the action of a saturated 

 aqueous solution of chloretone on animal tissue 

 pieces of various organs were removed from the 

 animal (dog) as quickly as possible after death. 



cut into small pieces and distributed among several 

 sets of bottles containing water saturated with 

 chloretone. One set was kept at 37°, one at 15°, 

 while others at summer room temperature. One 

 set at room temperature was inoculated with B. 

 Froteus. Control tissue with only distilled water 

 showed a high degree of putrefaction in two days. 

 Every few days the tissues were examined and the 

 general appearance, color, odor, etc., noted. In 

 general the tissues became soft and spongy and 

 lost much of their normal color. There was at no 

 time a suggestion of putrefaction. In fact, cul- 

 tures made every few days from all the bottles 

 showed their contents to be sterile. Histological 

 studies show that while there is no evidence of 

 bacteria, there is evidence of autolytic changes, 

 since some normal cell constituents are entirely 

 lacking. It would seem that chloretone is one of 

 the few substances (in weak dilution) that will 

 allow autolysis to proceed under sterile conditions. 



) Conclusions. (1) Chloretone in saturated aque- 

 ous solution exerts a definite baetericdal action at 

 aU temperatures. (2) Chloretone in saturated 

 aqueous solution prevents the development of the 

 common molds. (3) Chloretone solution is not 

 suitable as a fixative for histological materials. 

 (4) Chloretone solution while acting as a bacteri- 

 cide, does not inhibit autolytic action as evidenced 

 by our histological findings. (5) Chloretone solu- 

 tion is a desirable agent for preserving glands and 

 gland extracts from which the active principles are 

 to be obtained. 



I The outlook for chemotherapy in the chemical 

 industry of America: C. L. Alsberg. (By title.) 

 Blv£ eyes: W. D. Bancroft. 



Charles L. Parsons, 

 Secretary 

 {To he continued) 



SCIENCE 



A Weekly Journal devoted to the Advancement of 

 Science, publishing the official notices and pro- 

 ceedings of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science 



Published every Friday by 



THE SaENCE PRESS 



LANCASTER. PA. GARRISON. N. Y, 



NEW YORK. N. Y. 



Entered in tbe po«t'office at Lancutcr. Pa., u Kcond dsut manm 



