1911] CURRENT LITERATURE 471 
view expressed by EULER that the formaldehyde exists mainly in combination, 
and show why Ewart was able to extract formaldehyde from chlorophyll. 
BERTHELOT and GaupEcHON® have accomplished some most interesting 
syntheses and decompositions of chemical compounds by means of the mer- 
cury vapor lamp, rich in ultra-violet. All the results indicate the existence 
of balances in the reactions. Water was synthesized from H, and O, and 
decomposed into these elements. Mixtures of CO and O, exposed to the 
ultra-violet produced considerable CO,: CO, thus exposed gave a slight amount 
of CO and O,. If phosphorus were also present with the CO., a much greater 
yield of CO resulted, due to the removal of O. by phosphorus. If a mixture 
of CO, and H, were Nga to the light, considerable formaldehyde resulted. 
Mixtures of CO and H, thus exposed produced considerable formaldehyde. 
Formaldehyde was decomposed into CO, CO., H., and CH,;. These results 
certainly show great possibility in vhistocvnahesie. as the authors use the 
term, meaning any synthesis by light 
The work suggests the possibility of chlorophyll functioning by trans- 
forming the long rays of the red and blue to short ultra-violet rays, which are 
more effective chemically. This conclusion, however, one should not accept 
too readily, for Grsson, working with the leaf, and L6s, with the effect of silent 
electrical discharges on solutions of carbonic acid, have shown the possibility 
of another conception, namely, that the leaf transforms the absorbed light to 
electricity, which accomplishes the reduction of the carbonic acid to formal- 
dehyde and perhaps the condensation of the latter to sugars. Neither con- 
ception is by any means proved; either, however, explains the peculiar fact 
that red rays (generally ineffective chemically) are very effective in photo- 
synthesis.—WiLi1AM CROCKER. 
estion of sugars.—The tendency to consider enzymes as specific in 
their activity, and the desire. to distinguish enzymes already known and to 
discover new ones, have often distracted the attention from the more inter- 
esting problems in general physiology regarding enzymes. Such a problem 
is the relation between the enzymes produced by an organism and the utiliza- 
tion of the different substances on which it is able to nourish itself. From this 
point of view CoL1n® makes a comprehensive study of the enzyme activities 
of the mold Botrytis cinerea in the group of sugars. The mold was cultivated 
on various polyoses, and a study made of the transformations in each case. 
The enzymes in the culture liquid and mycelium after growth on each sugar 
Was then studied. This was followed by an investigation of the relation which 
exists between the polyose sugars in general and the enzymes produced by 
the mold. The mold grew well and showed little morphological variation on 
8 BERTHELOT et GAUDECHON, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. 150: 1690-1693. Ig10, 
Corry, H., Hydrolyses de quelques polysaccharides par C Botrytis cinerea. 
Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. 1321-111. IQII. 
