| . Distribution Coefficients. 
Concentration of the 
aqueous solution 
Methyl acetate .... 
bho k normal | 2:94 | 2°56 eRe. 
BOG, evan ee ae | 
| 314 ,, (saturated) 3:88 3:50 | 1-81 | 
| ' 9. 2.9 | | 
Ethyl acetate ...| 0°33 _,, celia ee Le ONO! Reig Ars | Ge eae 
090, (saturated) 10°8 10-10 S27 | 
| 2.0. | : 
Propyl! acetate .... 0:11 ,, ooo | ie | ‘pee: | #1 Weeteece 
022 » (saturated) 348 | 89-0 200 | 
| ee ae. JS ee 
in equivalents. C,H, | Quo- CCl, | Quo- | Os, | Quo- 
HO tient. HO | tient.| H,O | tient. 
on Osmosis, Solubility, and Narcosis. FN 
Slight corrections were necessary in the cases of carbon 
tetrachloride and benzene. For it was observed that when 
pure water was shaken up with carbon tetrachloride, the 
capillary height of the water was immediately reduced by 
4 millim., and when shaken with benzene by 2°2 millim. 
That the law should hold good less accurately for the 
distribution coefficient than for capillarity constants is not 
surprising. Tor to begin with, the distribution-coefficient 
probably varies because of partial association, especially of 
methyl acetate in benzene ; and, secondly, the above state- 
ments show that there cannot be absolute proportionality 
between distribution-coefficients and constants of capillarity 
This follows, for instance, from a comparison of ethyl acetate 
with isobutyric acid. ‘The capillarity constants are the 
same, but the coefficient of isobutyric acid in the system 
CS,/H,0 is =0°80. 
Overton and Hans Meyer have noted the interesting fact 
that the efficaceous narcotics, anzesthetics, and antipyretics all 
belong to those combinations that penetrate thin membranes 
rapidly. Kapid penetration into the cell seems to be the 
most essential condition for enabling a narcotic to exercise 
its paralysing and other effects on the interior of certain 
celis. But now we have found that a near relation exists 
between osmotic velocity and surface-tension, and therefore 
we can expect that surface-tension and narcotic power run 
parallel. That is really the case, in general, even if we 
compare narcotics which differ materially in their chemical 
constitution *. 
If we compare narcotizing substances of the same homo- 
logous series, the relation becomes still more remarkable. 
We have found (p. 711) a very simple law to be valid for the 
surface-tension of such homoiogous substances, and we will 
* Compare Pfliiger’s Archiv, Nov. or Dec., 1904. 
