March 3, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



343 



ash, and in fat except in that of the long aub- 

 maintenanee animal, which lost over 75 per cent. 

 of its original fat. The animal on long sub- 

 maintenance (eleven months) became greatly 

 emaciated and the analysis showed that he had 

 used up nearly all of his reserve store of fat, 

 not only from his flesh, but from his skeleton. 

 The short-submaintenance animal (six months) 

 and the long-maintenance animal (twelvemonths) 

 had used up nearly all the reserve fat of the 

 tissues, but had not drawn upon the supply in 

 the slceleton. 



The loss in moisture is not sufficient to cor- 

 respond to the loss in protein for a lean meat or 

 connective tissue, which supports the view that in 

 certain stages, at least, of fat resorption the fat 

 is in whole or in part replaced by water. 



The normal skeleton contains about 36 per 

 cent, moisture. In the long-submaintenance ani- 

 mal it has risen to 63 per cent., while the fat 

 content of the skeleton has dropped from 16 per 

 cent, to 3 per cent. In tliis time the skeleton has 

 gained nearly one per cent, of its total weight in 

 dry protein. The long-submaintenance animal lost 

 10,627 grams in dry protein, but only 24,868 

 grams in moisture, which lacks about 16,000 

 grams of being enough to make up the protein 

 loss to lean flesh and connective tissue. During 

 this time the loss in fat was 43,829 grams, or 

 about 90 per cent, of the total fat present at the 

 beginning. 

 The Preparation and Properties of an Oandase 



oocurring in Fruits: Fikman Thompson and 



Hakey p. Bassett. 



An oxidase was prepared from the juice of 

 pears and was found to have a marked action in 

 the production of a tannin-like substance from 

 gallic acid. The extent and rate of this action 

 were measured by the precipitation of the nitro- 

 gen in a solution of egg-white. By this means a 

 very extensive and rapid action of the enzyme 

 was shown. Tannin determinations made by one 

 of the standard methods also confirmed these 

 results. It was further shown by means of plate 

 cultures that the body thus produced exhibited 

 marked germicidal properties. 



A gradual decrease of soluble nitrogen in the 

 juices prepared from various fruits indicates that 

 a similar action takes place there on exposure to 

 oxygen of the air. The writers consider it doubt- 

 ful if tannin exists as such in the normal growing 

 fruit, believing it to be rapidly formed on injury 

 or removal from the tree, its function being to 

 inhibit fungous or bacterial growths. 



Abstracts for the following papers have not 

 been received: 



" The Iodine Content of a Physiologically Active 

 Substance obtained from the Large, Medium, 

 Small and Mixed Thyroid Glands of Beef, Hogs 

 and Sheep," T. B. Aldeich. 



" The Processing of Japanese Persimmons," H. 

 C. Gore. 



" Studies on Lipoid Potassium Compounds of 

 the Tissues," W. Koch and C. C. Todd. 



" ' Normal ' Arsenic in the Human Body," R, 

 L. Emerson. 



" The Non-existence of so-called ' Normal Ar 

 senic ' in the Human Thyroid Gland," Wm. H. 

 Warren. 



" Nutrition Investigations, No. 30 — Further Im^ 

 provements in the Methods of Analyzing Flesh,' 

 A. D. Emmett and W. E. Joseph. 



" A Method for the Estimation of Reducing 

 Sugars," S. R. Benedict. 



" On Luciferesceine, the Fluorescent Material 

 Present in Certain Luminous Insects " { prelim- 

 inary), F. Alex. McDermott. 



" A Note on Fat Synthesis in the Human In- 

 testine," H. M. Adler. 



" On the Neutrality Equilibrium in Blood and 

 Protoplasm. The Regulatory Activity of the 

 Kidney," L. J. Henderson. 



" Chloroform Narcosis and Fatty Degeneration 

 in the Hearts of Nephrectomized Rabbits," F. H. 

 McCrudden (with Paul A. Lewis). 



" Further Studies on the Growth of Plants in 

 Bacterial Transformation Products," A. Daeh- 

 nowski. 



" The Relation of Certain Odorous Constituents 

 of Plants to Plant Metabolism," Frank Rabak. 



" The Influence of Shade on Sugar Accumula- 

 tion in Tobacco in the Tropics," H. H. Hassel- 

 bring. 



" The Chromogen of the Hawaiian Bitter Yam," 

 H. H. Bartlett. 



" A Quantitative Method for the Estimation of 

 Oxidases," H. H. Bunzel. 



"The Alkaloid Content of Ergot and its Fluid 

 Extract," A. Seidell. 



" The Poisonous Properties of the Mushroom 

 Inocybe infida," E. D. Clark. 



" One Role of Carbonic Acid in Fermentation," 

 C. H. Hudson. 



" Studies upon the Biochemistry of Penicil- 

 lium," 0. F. Black. 



" The Action of the Fungus Diplodia upon some 

 Phosphorous Compounds of Maize," A. S. Reed. 



