Makch 22, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



461 



composition, and to determine the nature 

 of tlie substance or substances which ac- 

 count for the poisonous qualities attributed 

 to them by the inhabitants of the regions in 

 which the plant is found. Qualitative 

 tests showed the presence of proteins, car- 

 bohydrates, fats, cholesterins, lecithins, 

 alkaloid-like substances, inorganic salts and 

 salts of organic acids. Quantitative deter- 

 minations gave the following results : water 

 87.10 per cent., solids 12.90 per cent., 

 organic matter 11.48 per cent., inorganic 

 matter 1.42 per cent. Alcohol and ether 

 extracts were made and the Stas-Otto 

 method applied for the extraction of alka- 

 loidal material. The alcohol and ether ex- 

 tracts showed toxic action on frogs. The 

 material obtained by the Stas-Otto method 

 failed to show any toxic action when ad- 

 ministered per OS or subcutaneously to a 

 small dog. This material seemed alka- 

 loidal in nature but could not be identified 

 as any one of the known alkaloids. Tuber 

 meat from normal tubers, from brown 

 spotted tuber and the rind were fed sepa- 

 rately to dogs in amounts up to 2 gm. per 

 kilo of body weight without producing any 

 apparent effects excepting marked diar- 

 rhoea. Some work now in progress is in- 

 tended to determine whether any of the 

 inorganic salts are present in sufficient 

 quantity to produce the cathartic effect 

 noted, or whether this action may be due to 

 an organic acid. 



The Effects of Salts of Some Bare Ele- 

 ments on Seedlings: Alice A. Knox and 

 Wm. H. Welkeb. 



The general method followed was that 

 described by True and Gies.^ Salts of the 

 following elements were studied in this 

 work: didymium, beryllium, erbium, 

 lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, yttrium, 

 cesium, and praseodymium. The compara- 



' True and Gies, Bull Torrey Bot. Club, 30 : 390, 

 1903. 



tive effects of the anions Te04, SeO^ and 

 SO4 were also studied. The greatest molec- 

 ular concentration points at which growth 

 occurred during the first twenty hours and 

 the least molecular concentration points 

 where no growth occurred after the first 

 twenty hours were carefully noted, and it 

 was found that the increase in toxicity 

 followed Mendeleeff's table almost mathe- 

 matically, the toxicity increasing from 

 group to group and also down each indi- 

 vidual group with increase of molecular 

 weight. Points of concentration where 

 the growth reached that of the water con- 

 trol, where initial stimulation occurred, 

 where maximum stimulation occurred and 

 where the growth again returned to that 

 of the control were noted. The results on 

 these points were less sharply defined, as 

 could be expected, when the high dilutions 

 and the normal variation in the seedlings 

 are considered. In general, however, the 

 trend was along the lines of the periodic 

 system. 



Studies of the Effects of Ions on Lipase: 



Eaymond H. Pond. 



The study of lipolytic digestion has been 

 very little in comparison with the attention 

 that has been paid to amylolytic and pro- 

 teolytic reactions. In the case of the two 

 latter it has been found that dissociable 

 salts inhibit digestion inversely as their 

 decomposition tension. As the correlation 

 mentioned has never been established com- 

 pletely an extension of the study to lipo- 

 lytic digestion would seem profitable. A 

 commercial product having been found to 

 be very active in the saponification of ethyl 

 butyrate some initial steps have been taken 

 in the intended study. The activity of the 

 enzyme can be satisfactorily expressed in 

 the number of c.c. of M/20 KOH required 

 to neutralize the fatty acid arising from 

 the saponification of the neutral butyrate. 

 A sample preparation would be 2 c.c. of a 



