May 2, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



683 



union with the oxygen receptors. Such compounds 

 can not be oxidized by shock, hence respiration is 

 reduced; conduction which is analogous to an 

 explosion wave of oxidation is blocked ; irritability 

 is lost; growth and synthesis stops. 

 H. C. GORE: Note on the Volatilization of Sul- 

 phuric Acid when Used as a Desiccating Agent 

 in High Vacuum. (Lantern.) 

 H. C. GOEE: A Constant Temperature Humidor. 



(Lantern.) 

 H. C. Gore: Study of the Chemical Changes in 

 the Banana during Bipening with Special Befer- 

 enee to the Transfer of Water from Peel to 

 Pulp. (Lantern.) 

 H. C. Gore: Sttidy of the Effect of Uranyl Ace- 

 tate and Ammonium Molyidate on tlie Polarisa- 

 tion of l-Malic and d-Tartaric Acids. (Lan- 

 tern.) 

 Arthur W. Dox and E.\t E. Neidig: Cleavage of 

 Hippuric Acid hy Molds. 



The formol-titration method of Sorenson was 

 found admirably adapted to a study of enzymotio 

 cleavage of hippuric acid. All of the mold spe- 

 cies examined contained an enzyme capable of 

 hydrolyzing 80 per cent, or more of the hippuric 

 acid in the presence of toluol. The age of the 

 culture (1 to 4 weeks) seemed to have little influ- 

 ence upon the amount of enzyme. The enzyme 

 was produced in all cases in the absence of the 

 corresponding zymolyte from the medium. 



P. E. Brown: Batterial Activities and the nota- 

 tion of Crops. 

 George Peirce: The Purification of the Esterase 

 from Pig's Liver. 



The esterase is obtained by crushing pig's liver 

 with sand, mixing with water and straining 

 through cloth. The purification is accomplished 

 by dialysis, half saturation with (NH4),S0„ rejec- 

 tion of ppt., complete saturation with (NHi).SO„ 

 and dialysis of a suspension of this ppt. After 

 filtration the solution will hydrolyze 200 times its 

 weight (reckoned as dried material) of ethyl 

 butyrate in 1 hour, the final acidity being iV/100, 

 the ethyl butyrate solution being about two thirds 

 saturated (N/28). 



The enzjTne is strongly inhibited by NaF, the 

 inhibition being due to an inert compound formed 

 by the enzyme and the NaF. The amount of 

 inhibition followed the mass law. A possible 

 method of ,working out the maximum molecular 

 weight of the grouping with which the NaF com- 

 bined was indicated. 



B. E. Svt^AiN and J. P. Mitchell: The Deter- 

 mination of Sulphur Dioxide in the Air. 

 The sample of air is collected for analysis in a 

 flask of about ten liters' capacity. The latter is 

 fitted with a glass stopper carrying a dropping 

 funnel and a short outlet tube. N/100 iodine 

 solution (10 c.c.) and 150 c.c. of water are then 

 added, and the flask and contents shaken vigor- 

 ously for ten minutes. Stopper and fittings are 

 rinsed off and removed, and iV^/100 arsenious acid 

 added until only a faint brown color remains. 

 The solution is finally rinsed into a titrating flask 

 and the titration finished with starch as an indi- 

 cator. Results on known amounts of sulphur 

 dioxide indicate an error of less than five parts 

 per million parts of air. 



Edward Kremers: The Methyl and Methylene 

 Ethers of Phenols Found in the Vegetable 

 Kingdom and the Light which they Seem to 

 Throw on Certain Phases of Plant Metabolism. 

 The importance which formaldehyde or its hy- 

 dration product, the methylene glycol, plays in 

 plant metabolism is universally recognized. The 

 minor role played by the other reduction products 

 of carbon dioxide has been largely overlooked. 

 The rational classification of the methyl and 

 methylene ethers of the phenols, together with 

 that of glucosidal compounds of the phenols, seems 

 to throw a ray of light on the rOle which these 

 two simple alcohols play in common with the 

 simple sugars. 



Wm. Mansfield Clark: The Analogy between 



the Formation of "Eyes" in Emmental Cheese 



and Crystal Grmvth. 



A review of the literature reveals no conclusive 

 evidence that the characteristic holes or ' ' eyes ' ' 

 of Emmental cheese are localized at points of 

 great bacterial growth. The alternative, that the 

 eye-inflating, gas-producing bacteria are more or 

 less generally scattered throughout the whole body 

 of the cheese is confirmed by the comparison of 

 the gas production of eye walls and of solid 

 regions distant from eyes. 



That the gas produced by bacteria in gels may 

 separate at points distant from the colonies, and 

 that this gas separates preferably where a pre- 

 formed bubble is already found has been experi- 

 mentally demonstrated. Instances are also cited 

 to show that large bubbles grow at the expense of 

 small. 



The theoretical reasons are presented as well 

 as the analogy between the formation of gas 



