678 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 984 



formula IV. have been synthetized. The /3 man- 

 nose compounds of formula II. have not yet been 

 prepared. 

 M. X. Sullivan: Some Organic Constituents of 



the Culture Solution and the Mycelium of Molds 



from Soil. 



Examination was made of the dried mycelium 

 of mixed mold cultures from soil and of Penicil- 

 lium glaucum grown on Raulin's solution and of 

 the filtered solution after mold growth for organic 

 constituents. In the mixed molds was found a 

 large number of organic substances, many of 

 which were subsequently found in Penicillium 

 glaucum. In the alcoholic soda extract of Penicil- 

 lium glaucum were found oleic and palmitic acids, 

 a fatty acid melting at 54° C, a fatty acid which 

 appears to be elaidie acid, hypoxanthine, guanine 

 and adenine, histidine, thymine and chlorine. In 

 the direct alcohol extract was found mannite, 

 cholesterol bodies, hypoxanthine and cerebrosides. 

 From mold grown on Kaulin's solution plus pep- 

 tone a small amount of guanidine was found. In 

 the culture solution after a number of weeks' 

 growth were found fatty acids, purine bases, a 

 small quantity of a histidine-like body, pentose 

 sugar, unidentified aldehydes, etc. Many of these 

 compounds have been found in soil and the con- 

 clusion is drawn that microorganisms, such as 

 yeasts, bacteria and molds, play an important 

 part in their formation. 

 M. X. Sullivan: Vanillin in Wheat and its Be- 



lation to Soil. 



By means of the sodium bisulphite aldehyde 

 method, an aldehyde smelling like vanillin and 

 giving vanillin color reactions was found in the 

 alcohol and ether extracts of ungerminated wheat 

 seeds, in the roots, seeds and tops, respectively, of 

 young wheat seedlings in rotten wood, and in the 

 water in which wheat had germinated and grown. 

 Estimated quantitatively by Folin and Denis's 

 colorimetrie method, the amount in the ungermi- 

 nated seed is small, several parts per million, but 

 is considerably increased during germination and 

 the early stages of growth. Treating the seed 

 with 5 pe* cent, sulphuric acid also increased the 

 amount of vanillin extraetable. The presence of 

 vanillin in other plants was indicated. The va- 

 nillin of soil undoubtedly has its origin in part in 

 vegetable debris and plant. 



W. E. Bloor: a Method for the Determination of 

 Small Amounts of Fat. (Preliminary report.) 

 The method consists essentially in extracting the 



fat from the tissue or liquid with an excess of alco- 



hol-ether (25 per cent, ether), measuring an aliquot 

 portion of the filtered extract into distilled water 

 and determining the amount of fat by comparison 

 of the cloudy suspension so obtained with a 

 standard fat solution by the use of the nephelom- 

 eter. The method has given good results with 

 blood and milk. 

 C. G. MacArthur and G. Nokbury: Nitrogenous 



Hydrolysis Products of Several Phosphatids. 



Sheep brain kephalin, sheep brain lecithin, ox 

 heart cuorin and ox heart lecithin were prepared, 

 purified and then hydrolyzed in a dilute hydrochloric 

 acid solution. In each case the fatty acid residue 

 contained nitrogen, usually about one sixth of the 

 total. The filtrate nitrogen was separated by a 

 special method into four fractions, representing 

 (1) ammonia, (2) chlorine or other basic com- 

 pound, (3) amino acid, or compounds not precipi- 

 tated by platinum chloride but precipitated by 

 mercuric acetate in a sodium carbonate solution, 

 and (4) the filtrate from (3). The two lecithins 

 contain about two fifths of the nitrogen in the 

 form (2), while kephalin and cuorin contain prac- 

 tically none. In all of them, fraction (3) is large, 

 varying from one third to one half. 



L. V. Burton and C. G. MacArthur: Fatty Acids 



from Kephalin. 



The fatty acids obtained from hydrolyzing 

 purified kephalin in a dilute hydrochloric acid so- 

 lution were separated by the lead acetate method 

 into the saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. 

 The saturated acid fraction represented about one 

 third of the total and was found to contain stearic 

 and palmitic in the ratio of three to one. The un- 

 saturated fatty acids were separated by the 

 bromination method into clupanodenic acid, lino- 

 lie acid and oleic acid. The amount of clupano- 

 denic acid present was small, less than 2 per cent. 

 The linolic acid was found to represent about one 

 sixth of the total fatty acids. Oleic acid eom^ 

 prised about one third of the total. 

 E. B. EORBES: A Metabolism Experiment with 



Swine. 



The usual practical rations for swine contain 

 an excess of acid over basic mineral elements. 

 Urinary ammonia varies directly with this excess 

 of mineral acid, provided the protein intake re- 

 mains the same. Increased protein intake in- 

 creases urinary ammonia. This excess of mineral 

 acid in practical swine rations seems not to affect 

 calcium retention. 



Water -drinking caused the elimination of so- 

 dium and chlorine; abstinence from drinking leads 



