474 



SCIENCE 



[X. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 667 



the gastro-lntestinal canal. It is certainly 

 not due to diminished elimination through the 

 kidneys ; on the contrary, it acts in some de- 

 gree as a diuretic, and, when given by sub- 

 cutaneous injection, the animal withstands a 

 somewhat greater proportionate dose of the 

 nitrate than of the sulphate or chloride, prob- 

 ably because the nitrate increases somewhat 

 the diuresis. 



Meltzer believes that the effects observed 

 can not be attributed to the nitrate radical 

 ' (ISTOj). He studied the toxic effects of sodium 

 nitrate after administration by mouth and 

 compared the resultant symptoms with those 

 seen after administration of magnesium 

 nitrate; the contrast was sharp. Even with a 

 dose of 12 grams of the sodium nitrate per 

 kilo there is never such anesthesia or paral- 

 ysis as that caused by the magnesium salts ; 

 on the contrary, the animal is all excitement 

 and restlessness. Besides, the late death of 

 the animal after administration of sodium 

 nitrate is due to circulatory disturbances, 

 whereas after poisoning with magnesium salts 

 the animal dies of respiratory paralysis. 

 On the Promoting Influence of Heated Tumor 

 Emulsions on Tumor Growth: Simon Flex- 



NER and J. W. JOBLING. 



The authors gave the results of a study of 

 an effect on the growth of a transplantable 

 sarcoma of the rat which is produced by in- 

 oculation of rats with an emulsion of the 

 tumor cells, previously heated for half an 

 hour to 56° C. This emulsion was injected 

 into the peritoneal cavity and the fragments 

 of living tumor were introduced beneath the 

 skin. The promoting effect on the growth of 

 the tumor fragments to be described became 

 evident in several sets of experiments in which 

 the turhor emulsion (unhealed), blood serum, 

 bouillon, salt and Ringer solutions were in- 

 jected in the same manner, with which sub- 

 stances this promoting effect was not obtained. 

 When the inoculation of the fragment of the 

 tumor was made twenty-four hours after the 

 injection of the unheated emulsion, no differ- 

 ence was noted between the control rats and 

 the rats injected with the enumerated ma- 

 terials, including the heated emulsion. But 



when the fragments were inoculated ten or 

 more days (up to thirty days) later, then the 

 number of tumors which developed in the rats 

 receiving the heated emulsion tended to ex- 

 ceed the controls and the other series men- 

 tioned; they grew with greater rapidity so as 

 to reach double the size of the controls or 

 even a still greater size, and showed a far 

 smaller percentage of recoveries (retrogres- 

 sions). This promoting influence was exerted 

 on the tenth day after inoculation, and vari- 

 ous indications suggested that it was less 

 effective at the expiration of thirty days. On 

 the other hand, it appeared that when the 

 injections of heated emulsion were repeated 

 once or twice at ten-day intervals, the condi- 

 tions of the animal favoring the growth and 

 persistence of the tumors were maintained 

 and possibly were even still further increased. 

 On the Chemical Inactivation and Regenera- 

 tion of Oom/plement: Hideyo Noguchi. 

 It was found that all acids and alkalies 

 are able to inactivate complements when used 

 in sufficient concentrations. With mono- 

 basic acids it takes about 1 c.c. of n-/40 solu- 

 tion to inactivate 1 c.c. of active serum. 

 About 1 c.c. of n/50 solution of the acid is, 

 as a rule, neutralized by the inherent alka- 

 linity of the serum. 



With alkalies 0.3 c.c. (ammonium hydrate 

 0.8 c.c.) is sufficient for inactivation. The 

 acids and alkalies are, when used without 

 serum, hemolytic in the quantities stated. 

 But when mixed with the serum they — serum 

 and chemicals — lose their activity mutually. 



Alkaline salts of strong acids are not anti- 

 complementary unless a certain limit of con- 

 centration is exceeded. Sodium carbonate is 

 anti-complementary in a relative, but not in 

 an absolute sense. All other salts employed 

 are strongly anti-complementary, the magne- 

 sium salts being the least inhibiting. Cal- 

 cium and barium salts of strong acids are 

 absolute anti-complements, while the carbon- 

 ates of these elements may or may not be 

 active upon complements. 



Complements which are inactivated by acids 

 can be reactivated by neutralizing the acids 

 with alkalies, and vice versa. The action of 



