Marc 8, 1912] 
cent. Saturated with formaldehyde; decrease from 
29.36 to 26.85 per cent. The losses amounted to 
47.0, 13.8 and 8.5 per cent., respectively, of the 
water-soluble phosphorus. The results seemed to 
indicate that the losses observed were not due pri- 
marily to ‘‘reversion’? of inorganic phosphates, 
but chiefly to bacterial activity. 
Manure bacteria grown on media prepared from 
extract of fresh manure-rock-phosphate mixture 
reduced the soluble phosphorus of the media 23.8 
to 63.6 per cent. Fresh intact bacterial cells of 
specific organisms and manure flora contained 34 
to 53 per cent. of their phosphorus in water- 
soluble form. Drying in vacuo at room tempera- 
tures did not alter the solubility of the phosphorus 
appreciably. The residual phosphorus was partly 
recovered from crushed cells by water and did not 
appear especially resistant to 0.2 per cent. acid or 
alkali solvents. These results appear to point con- 
clusively to bacteria as the chief cause of loss of 
soluble phosphorus in fermenting manures. 
Further work is in progress with acid-phosphate 
and involving also the roles of soil organisms and 
the plant in rendering phosphorus of manure bac- 
teria available to crops. 
JOHN H. Lone: A Series of Complete Urine An- 
alyses. 
This paper is a study of the urine of a number 
of men in normal health and on a protein diet 
amounting to from 70 to 88 grams daily. The 
results, presented in tabular form, embraced de- 
terminations of the bases calcium, magnesium, 
sodium, potassium and ammonium and the impor- 
tant acids present. 
For each urine the various acid and basic ions 
present were reduced to the hydrogen equivalent 
and these results shown in tables. While there was 
an apparent excess of acid in each case it was 
shown that with proper consideration of the prob- 
able urate and phosphate combinations some of 
the urine should exhibit an alkaline reaction toward 
litmus, as was, in fact, the case. 
The results are from the mixed aliquots saved 
from urines collected through a period of about 
35 days, and embraced a study of the nitrogen and 
other factors as well as the acids and bases. 
JOHN H. Lone: Some Further Studies on the Com- 
position of Feces Fat. 
Some years ago attention was called by the 
writer to the rather large amounts of organic 
phosphorus compounds found in the fat of feces 
studied in his laboratory. This is a continuation 
of these examinations, and analyses were made of 
SCIENCE 
391 
the fats from the feces of six men collected 
through long periods. These analyses embraced 
not only a determination of the phosphorus, but 
numerous other factors as well. The means of 
the results obtained show that the phosphatide 
content of the fat is larger than usually stated in 
works on physiological chemistry. 
OswaLD SCHREINER and J. J. SKINNER: The Ef- 
fect of Guanidine on Plants under Different 
Conditions. 
Guanidine is harmful to plants. The effect of 
50 parts per million was tested on wheat seedlings 
in solution cultures and in soils. The solution 
cultures consisted of nutrient solutions of varying 
composition in phosphate, nitrate and potash. The 
toxicity of the guanidine does not show until the 
fifth or sixth day, when spots appear on the leaves 
and soon the plant is completely affected and by 
the end of the second week the tops fall over. The 
effect of nitrates in the cultures is especially 
striking in that the harmful effect first shows 
itself in the cultures highest in nitrate and spreads 
gradually to those lower in nitrates and frequently 
does not appear at all in those cultures which con- 
tain phosphate and potash but no nitrate. In other 
words, we have here the interesting case of a 
harmful nitrogenous constituent, the harmful effect 
of which is accentuated by nitrates. Nitrogenous 
compounds other than nitrates, such as asparagine, 
creatinine or stable manure, when used in conjunc- 
tion with guanidine, did not produce the harmful 
effect noticed with sodium nitrate. 
Wituiam Sanant and J. B. RInGER: 
Studies on the Demethylation of Caffein. 
Studies carried out on rabbits, guinea-pigs, dogs 
and cats show that demethylation in the carnivora 
takes place far more readily than in the herbivora, 
the amounts of caffein eliminated unchanged by 
the former being very small. The process of 
demethylation therefore varies quantitatively as 
well as qualitatively in the above animals. 
C. B. Bennett: Note on the Distribution of Ino- 
sinice Acid. 
Inosinie acid was isolated and identified from 
the fresh muscular tissue of pigeons. 
L. E. Warren: A Note on the Poisonous Proper- 
ties of Parthenocissus quinquefolia. 
The death of a child after eating the berries of 
the Virginia creeper was recently noted by the 
publie press. While the recorded instances of 
poisoning from this plant are very few, an exam- 
ination of the literature showed that oxalic acid 
has been found in nearly all parts of the plant. 
Further 
