June 11, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



903 



albumose. Diuresis, on the other hand, 

 is very marked and in fifty minutes after 

 the injection of the albumose fully 50 per 

 cent of the substance is found in the urine 

 which rapidly accumulates in the bladder. 

 On removing the albumose from the urine 

 by saturation of the fluid with ammonium 

 sulphate a strong reaction for true peptone 

 can be obtained, thus showing that in the 

 eUmination of the albumose from the body 

 a certain amount of the substance is trans- 

 formed into peptone, presumably in the 

 epithelial cells of the kidney. 

 A Search for Pexin. J. W. "Waeeen. 



The presence of pexin, the milk curd- 

 ling ferment (otherwise 'labferment,' or 

 ' rennin ') in the digestive apparatus of 

 non-mammalian vertebrates has been fully 

 demonstrated. In the Bryn Mawr labora- 

 tory investigations have been made by 

 various students which help to make more 

 probable the opinion that there is no verte- 

 brate in which the curdling ferment does 

 not exist. A similar substance is known to 

 occur in many plant juices and also in 

 certain microorganisms. This wide distri- 

 bution of such a peculiar material or ma- 

 terials raises interesting questions as to its 

 significance and also concerning the value 

 of the clotting of milk as incidental to the 

 digestive process. 



Does such a ferment exist among inverte- 

 brates? Some little time ago the stomachs 

 of a few lobsters were examined in the 

 Bryn Mawr laboratory. Chloroform ex- 

 tracts were prepared and were found to have 

 no curdling action, nor were they made ac- 

 tive by acidulation and subsequent neutrali- 

 zation in the usual manner. When neutral- 

 ized with calcium carbonate (which is pro- 

 bably equivalent to the addition of soluble 

 calcium compounds) the liquid acquired the 

 power of clotting milk. Recentlj' the ques- 

 tion has been taken up again. Fresh earth- 

 worms were carefully washed, chopped into 

 £ne pieces and extracted by chloroform 



water. This infusion was inert, but became 

 active after treatment which is known to 

 transform the zymogen. In another series 

 the digestive tract was isolated, opened and 

 thoroughly washed, and then put into 

 chloroform water. This extract could not 

 be made to coagulate milk by any of the 

 methods which are ordinarily successful for 

 the demonstration of pexin or its forerunner, 

 pexinogen. This divergence may be due to 

 the accidental exhaustion of the glands in 

 the second series, or perhaps to the pres- 

 ence of bacteria in the contents of the diges- 

 tive canal of the first lot of worms. Other 

 less probable explanations might be given. 

 The digestive apparatus of oysters and 

 clams has also been examined in a prelimi- 

 narjr waj', but thus far only with quite 

 . negative result. 

 Note iqwn the Physiological Effects of Injections 



of Extracts of the Hypophysis Cerebri. W. 



H. Howell. Eead by title. 



Extracts were made of the glandular or 

 anterior lobe of the hypophysis cerebri and 

 the posterior or infundibular lobe, and the 

 efi"ects were tested separately by injections 

 into the circulation of dogs under the in- 

 fluence of various narcotics. Usually the 

 extracts were made by rubbing up the por- 

 tion used in a few drops of glycerine and 

 diluting this mixture, after it had stood 

 several hours, with a greater or less quan- 

 tity of normal saline. It was found that 

 extracts thus made of the glandular lobe 

 have no distinct or constant effect on the 

 circulatory organs, while the extracts of 

 the infundibular lobe have a marked influ- 

 ence on the heart rate and blood pressure. 

 "When the vagi were intact this effect con- 

 sisted usually in a rise of pressure, followed 

 quickly by a temporary fall during which 

 the heart rate remained unchanged or 

 showed some acceleration, and this was fol- 

 lowed by very slow and powerful heart 

 beats lasting from a few minutes to half an 

 hour or more, during which the pressure 



