October 12, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



367 



what below the hatching length, and prac- 

 tically all of the newly hatched specimens fell 

 down to about three fourths of their original 

 length. Speaking in terms of reduction in 

 size, it is astonishing to note that some of 

 the largest larvse have been reduced to about 

 1/600 of their maximum larval mass. 



Another, and even more interesting phenom- 

 enon, is the fact that when the starved speci- 

 mens almost reach the smallest size possible 

 and are then given plenty of food, they will 

 again begin growing in size. A number of 

 the larvae which were half grown when placed 

 under starvation for the first time, have 

 through alternating periods of " feasting and 

 fasting " attained that size three times and 

 are now on the way to their fourth " child- 

 hood " ; and even some of the large specimens 

 have started dwindling down to their third 

 " childhood " after having twice attained the 

 practically maximum larval size. 



Occasionally these larvas are found in large 

 numbers in insect, seed and drug collections, 

 and naturally destroyed as soon as discovered. 

 The writer would appreciate any amount of 

 this living material that the reader may 

 happen to find if he has no use for it himself. 

 The larvse, pupse or living adults of other 

 dermestids are equally desirable for the pur- 

 pose of comparative studies. In response to 

 a recent circular letter many men have al- 

 ready sent me some valuable material. The 

 names of the donators will appear in the 

 forthcoming detailed publication of this ex- 

 tensive and of necessity prolonged investiga- 

 tion. 



The problem has now attained enormous 

 proportions and involves the use of thousands 

 of specimens. Many normal larvas of differ- 

 ent sizes, as well as many specimens in the 

 different periods of starvation have been sec- 

 tioned during the past few years, and com- 

 parative cytological studies of the various 

 structures of the organisms are being made. 

 Physiological studies with special reference 

 to metabolic water and excretion have also 

 been started. J. E. Wodsedalek 



TJniveesity of Id.\ho, 

 Moscow, Idaho 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 

 THE ROLE OF THE NUCLEUS IN OXIDATION* 



In 1897 Spitzer- reported that nucleopro- 

 teins extracted from certain animal tissues 

 have the same oxidizing power as the tissues 

 themselves. The idea that the nucleus is a 

 center of oxidation was advocated by Loeb,^ 

 who pointed out that this would explain why 

 cells deprived of nuclei live but a short time 

 and are unable to regenerate missing parts. 

 E. Lillie* sought to obtain direct experimental 

 evidence by applying reagents which become 

 colored on oxidation. He found the greatest 

 amount of color in the neighborhood of the 

 nucleus, indicating that it is a center of oxi- 

 dation. Subsequent workers,^ using stains 

 which change color on oxidation, failed to 

 agree as to the results. 



Mathews^ has stated that the nucleus is 

 directly concerned in oxidation. 



Warburg' found that NaOH increased oxi- 

 dation in the sea urchin egg, but did not pene- 

 trate sufficiently to cause a change of color 

 in the interior of eggs stained with neutral 

 red. This is regarded by some as indicating 

 that oxidation is largely confined to the sur- 

 face of the cell.* E. Lillie^ has recently found 

 that the formation of indophenol in leuco- 



1 Preliminary communication. 



2Pfluger's Archiv, 67: 615, 1897. 



s Archiv fiir Entwiclcelungsmechanilc der Or- 

 ganismen, 8: 689, 1899. 



iAm. Jour. Physiol, 7: 412, 1902. 



'iCf. Wierry, E. T., Science, N. S., 37: 908, 

 1913; Sehultze, W. H., Verh. deutsch path. Ges., 

 16: 161, 1913; Eeed, G. B., Jour. Biol. Chemistry, 

 22: 99, 1915. Unna, P. G. und Godoletz, L., Op- 

 penheimer's Handi. d. Biochem. Erganzungshand, 

 S. 327, 1913. 



Mathews, A. P., ' ' Physiological Chemistry, ' ' 

 1915, p. 180. 



'Warburg, O., Zeit. f. physiol. Chemie, 66: 305, 

 1910; Biochem. Zeit., 29: 414, 1910. 



8 This conclusion does not seem to be necessary. 

 Cf. Loeb and Wasteneys, Jour, of Biochemistry, 14: 

 459, 1913; also Osterhout; Ibid., 19: 335, 1914. 

 Owing to the buffer action of the protoplasm and 

 to the presence of pigment the penetration of a 

 small amount of alkali is not easily detected. 



ojour. of Biol. Chemistry, 15: 237, 1913. 



