Influence of Tartrates upon Phlorhizin Diabetes. 123 



reproduction as have appeared being either normal rhythms or 

 the effects of environmental changes of temperature and culture 

 medium. The organisms of the present generation are in as 

 normal morphological and physiological condition as the original 

 "wild" individual isolated to initiate the culture. 



This study has demonstrated that, under favorable environ- 

 mental conditions, the protoplasm of the cell originally isolated 

 possessed (at least) the potentiality to produce similar cells to 

 the number represented by 2 raised to the 3,029th power, or 

 a volume of protoplasm approximately equal to io 1000 times the 

 volume of the Earth. I believe this result proves beyond ques- 

 tion that the protoplasm of a single cell may be self-sufficient to 

 reproduce itself indefinitely, under favorable environmental 

 conditions, without recourse to conjugation and clearly indicates 

 that senescence and the need of fertilization are not primary at- 

 tributes of living matter. 



87 (696) 



The influence of tartrates upon phlorhizin diabetes. 



By FRANK P. UNDERBILL. 



[From the Sheffield Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, Yale 

 University, New Haven, Conn.] 



A recent communication of Baer and Blum (Archiv fur Exper- 

 imentelle Pathologie und Pharmakologie, 191 1, 65, p. 1) shows 

 that the subcutaneous administration of a number of organic com- 

 pounds, containing two carboxyl groups, exercises a remarkable 

 inhibitory influence upon the elimination of urinary nitrogen and 

 dextrose in dogs with phlorhizin diabetes. Among the substances 

 possessing this property may be mentioned glutaric and tartaric 

 acids. 



In an endeavor to explain the mechanism of the unique influ- 

 ence exerted by these compounds investigations have been carried 

 out with tartrates upon both dogs and rabbits under conditions 

 similar to those established by Baer and Blum. We have been 

 able to corroborate the findings of Baer and Blum with respect 

 to the action of tartrates although Ringer (Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. 



