NOTES ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 69 
noticeable after 12 hours, and the presence of ammonia can easily be proved, as we 
gather from a paper by R. Chodat and K. Schweizer’). The following reaction has, 
therefore, taken place: separation of carbon dioxide and ammonia, and oxidation to 
the aldehyde containing one carbon atom less. The presence of formaldehyde in green 
plants might, in consequence, likewise be due to the action of the always-present 
tyrosinase, this forming formaldehyde from glycocoll, when the chlorophyll might 
foster the process. In fact, the quantity of formaldehyde formed from glycocoll by 
the action of tyrosinase is increased in the presence of chlorophyll solution. 
G. Bertrand and A. Compton?) have investigated the changes which take place 
with age in amygdalinase and amygdalase. These enzymes show the maximum 
activity in a medium reacting distinctly alkaline on phenolphthalein. In the course of 
time (2 to 4 years), they not only lose their efficacy very slowly, but they require, 
besides, as optimum an ever-increasing concentration of the hydrogen ions, 
The reduction of cinnamaldehyde by yeast is discussed on page 82 of this Report. 
Pharmaco-physiological Notes. 
Remedies against vermin. . 
On page 74 of our previous Report we talked about the different remedies which 
have, of late, been recommended against vermin. The literature on the lice pest has 
meanwhile become quite voluminous, and we have before us numerous communications °) 
which evidence the importance of essential oils for checking the lice pest. The 
Opinions concerning the efficacy of essential oils are, of course, divided. According to 
Zucker, they range as follows: gaultheria oil, camphor oil, bergamot oil, eucalyptus 
oil, rosemary oil. Their influence is destructive only after a comparatively long action, 
and Frankel says that the good results obtained are probably to be attributed to the 
fact that body lice evade the smell of essential oils and of their components. Wulker 
ascribes the greatest efficacy to eucalyptus and clove oils. Von Knaffl-Lenz found 
that cineol ointment killed lice in 4 to 6 hours, whereas anisole ointment proved 
ineffective. Blau recommends methyl salicylate, which combines preventive and de- 
structive actions and does not harm the human organism. Its application is simple 
and it can be procured at little cost. 
Rabe thinks that the success obtained with certain volatile oils, such as aniseed, 
fennel, clove, eucalyptus, thyme oils and others, in the form of ointments against lice, 
is due to their content of terpenes*). He examined from this point of view the effect 
1) Arch. Sc. phys. et nat. Genéve (4) 39 (1915), 331; Chem. Zentralbl. 1915, II]. 194. — #) Compt. rend. 159 
(1914), 434; Chem. Zentralbl. 1915, I. 1068. — #%) T. von Marschalk6, Deutsche med. Wochenschr. 41 (1915), 316; 
Chem. Zentralbl. 1915, 1. 1329. — F. Rabe, Apotheker Ztg. 80 (1915), 398. — A. Zucker, Centralbl. f. Bakteriol., 
Parasitenk. u. Infektionskrankh. 76 (1915), 294; Apotheker Ztg. 80 (1915), 399. — G. Wulker, Minch. med. 
Wochenschr. 62 (1915), 628; Chem. Zentralbl. 1915, I]. 418. — E. v. Knaffl-Lenz, Wien. klin. Wochenschr. 28 
(1915), 708; Chem. Zentralbl. 1915, Il. 419. — H. Blau, Zeitschr. d. allg. 6sterr. Apoth. Ver. 53 (1915), 171. — 
S. Frankel, Therap. Monatsh. 29 (1915), 301. — Zeitschr. d. allg. dsterr. Apoth. Ver. 58 (1915), 137. — B. Nocht 
and J. Halberkann, Minch. med. Wochenschr. 62 (1915), 626; Chen. Zentralbl. 1915, II]. 417. — Hénck, Deutsche 
med. Wochenschr. 1915, 308; Therap. Monatsh. 29 (1915), 282. A review of several papers is given by Th. Sutter, 
Deutsche Parf.-Ztg. 1 (1915), 71. — +4) Aniseed and fennel oils, however, contain scarcely any terpenes or 
none at all. 
