70 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1307 



lent or greater amplitude. SpeeiaUj prepared and 

 purified agar and albumins prepared by E. E. 

 Squibb & Sons are used in these experiments. 

 Some of the results obtained are not explainable 

 on the basis of the simple action of the H or OH 

 ions, especially in the use of alkaline hydroxides, 

 ammonia and amino-<:ompounds. The reactions 

 noted are fundamental or contributory to growth. 



The antisoorhutio value of the banana: H. B. 

 Lewis. (By title.) 



: A study of various culture media, especially with 

 reference to increasing their buffer effects and ad- 

 justing thei/r Ph values: M. B. Meacham, J. J. 

 HOPFIELD AND S. P. AcEEE. (By title.) Titration 

 or buffer curves of com meal extract, malt extract 

 and bean extract, culture media and chestnut bark 

 extract, are shown. The desirability of adding 

 acids, bases and salts to these extracts to make 

 them more useful as culture media by increasing 

 their buffer effect is pointed out. The further ob- 

 ject of rendering, at the same time, the titration 

 curves as near straight lines as possible is sought. 

 Data and curves are given showing the practical 

 a,ttainment of these objects for two of the media. 

 The preparation of the media is carefully de- 

 scribed, so as to make possible their reproduction 

 to within 0.25 to 0.50 of a Ph unit. 



The cause of and remedy for certain inaccuracies 

 in Sausmann's nitrogen distribution method: S. 

 L. JoDiBi AND S. C. MouLTON. (By title.) The 

 proportion of acid amide nitrogen obtained by 

 Hausmann's method, as modified by Osborne and 

 Harris, is constant and does not depend upon the 

 quantity of magnesium oxide applied to the dis- 

 tillation. The percentage of nitrogen contained in 

 the magnesium oxide precipitate is the higher, the 

 greater was the quantity of magnesium oxide em- 

 ployed in distillation, and vice versa. Conversely, 

 the proportion of monoamine and diamino nitrogea 

 is the smaller, the larger the amount of magnesium 

 oxide used in distillation. In order to obtain uni- 

 form results and a minimum of ' ' humin ' ' nitrogen 

 it is necessary to use the least possible amount of 

 magnesia which is sufficient to render the substance 

 to be distilled alkaline. In the case of plant and 

 animal materials the uniform application of one 

 gram, of magnesium oxide seems to be satisfactory, 

 while in the ease of proteins one half of one gram 

 suffices. 



The antiscorbutic properties of raw lean beef: 

 R. Adams Dxjtcher, Edith M. Pierson and Alice 

 BlESTER. Guinea pigs weighing 250 to 300 grams 



were divided into experimental groups containing 

 four pigs to the group. Cold water extracts of raw 

 beef (representing 5, 10, 15 and 20 grams of beef) 

 were fed daily to the individuals in each respec- 

 tive experimental unit. Other pigs received oats 

 impregnated with chopped raw beef, the consump- 

 tion of beef averaging 3 to 5 grams daily. In all 

 cases scurvy developed in the same length of time 

 as when the meat and meat extract were omitted 

 from the diet, indicating that raw beef does not 

 possess antiscorbutic properties so far as these 

 properties can be ascertained by the method de- 

 scribed. 



Preliminary observations on the influence of the 

 diet of the cow on the antiscorbutic o?kJ growth 

 promoting properties of milk: E. Adams Dutcher, 

 Edith M. Pierson and Alice Biestee. Guinea 

 pigs receiving a daily diet of oats (ad lib.), water, 

 and 25 c.c. of autoclaved milk (from stall-fed 

 cows) developed scurvy in 15 to 18 days and died 

 in 25 to 30 days with great loss in body weight. 

 When 20 c.c. of autoclaved milk (from cows fed 

 on grain and green grass) were substituted for the 

 "stall fed" milk, scurvy developed 10 to 15 days 

 later and death did not ensue for 40 to 60 days 

 and no great loss in body weight occurred. Eaw, 

 pasteurized and separated milk (from cows on 

 green grass) has been fed, and the results indicate 

 that the nutritive value of these milks is higher 

 than milk from other sources. 



Bhubarb as an antiscorbutic: Edith M. Pierson 

 AND E. Adams Dutcher. Guinea pigs which have 

 developed scurvy may be relieved and cured by in- 

 troducing into the diet solid rhubarb, raw rhubarb 

 juice, or rhubarb juice which has been boiled for 

 fifteen minutes. 



1 The function of vitamin in the metabolism of 

 Sclerotinia cinerea: J. J. Willaman. (By title.) 

 The brown-rot fungus will not grow normally on 

 purely synthetic media. "When these media are 

 supplemented by additions of vitamin, normal 

 growth occurs. The vitamin has been prepared by 

 adsorption on fuller's earth from a large variety 

 of materials, including peach and plumb juices, 

 young tomato leaves, sprouts of beans, wheat and 

 potato, the leaf buds of beans, fimgus mycelia and 

 sporophores, yeast, com pollen, milk and pan- 

 creatin. Every material examined yielded the 

 vitamin. Those materials which are characterized 

 by high respiratory activity, either actual or po- 

 tential, such as yeast, pollen, fungus spores, gave 

 the most active vitamin preparations, both for 

 vegetative growth and for reproduction. It is be- 



