WITH NATIVE AND DERIVED PROTEINS.— HARRIS. 85 



unlikely that all th.e various anions (CI, NO,, P0„ SO,, CH, COO) 

 are the active substances, it is customary to attribute 

 the physiological activit}^ of the acicls to the ionised H. 

 Sirailary the alkalies, (K OH, NaOH, NQ^OH) have only the 

 OH ion in common, so that their common influence inactivating 

 enzymes is to he attributed to the anion hydroxyl. Hence, too, 

 the "free" alkalies are physiologically more active than the 

 carbonates, because they are more perfectly ionized. In some 

 recent work of mine^ on the presumed endo-enzyme, tissue reduc- 

 tion, any inhibitory action I found as the result of the presence 

 of protoplasmic poisons was to be attributed rather to their 

 acidity than to their so called toxicity; this is but one more 

 verification of the statement that acids — H ions — destroy 

 enzymes. Of course in all these problems we are dealing with 

 very small quantities : the maximum concentration for the 

 activating effect of alkalies is not greater than tV^ molecular. 

 May the activity of certain dilutions not explain, some of the 

 results obtained in homoeopathy ? 



■ So much, then, for the sign of the ionic charge; we have 

 still to reckon with the valency of the ion or the potential of 

 the charge or the ionic potential. 



ISTow the physiological activity of inorganic ions increases 

 with their valency thus — jSTa^, Ca", Fe™; sodium being more 

 bland than calcium and calcium than iron or conversely, iron 

 is more active (toxic) than calcium, and calcium than sodium. 



Much interesting work on the physiological activity varying 

 with the valency has been done by my friend Mr. Mines, 

 Fellow of Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge. Speaking of the 

 H ion Mr. Mines writes : 



"Concentration of H ions from .005 normal upwards, cause 

 strong tonic contraction in skeletal muscle and a primary rise 

 in electrical irritability, while the trivalent cations joroduce 

 neither of these effects. On the other hand, the H ion shows 

 striking resemblances in its action to that of the K ion. The 



1. Harris, D. Eraser : Bio-Cheni. Journ., Vol. VI, 200 (1911). 



