160 
Putrefaction  Alkaloids. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March,  1884. 
loids  differ  most  markedly.  The  author  was  only  able  to  observe  the 
formation  of  the  above  alkaloid  during  summer  time. 
Starting  from  the  view  that  peptones  on  further  putrefaction  are 
converted  into  ptomopeptones  which  yield  nitrogen  when  heated  with 
sodium  hypobromite,  then  the  quantity  of  nitrogen  so  evolved  may  be 
taken  as  a  measure  of  this  conversion.  Accordingly  the  author  made 
comparative  experiments  with  samples  of  damp  rye  meal  and  meal 
mixed  with  peptic  ferment,  with  5  per  cent,  ergot,  and  with  blight. 
The  results  are  given  in  the  table  below. 
Percentage  of  nitrogen  given  off  from 
Time  of  Action. 
Pure  meal. 
Meal  with 
blight. 
Meal  with 
ergot. 
Meal  with 
peptic  ferment. 
13  "   
0-1316 
0  -1527 
0-1989 
0.2196 
0  -5259 
0  -1671 
0-2592 
0*2842 
0-3415 
0  -1933 
0-2909 
0-3157 
0-4269 
0-5662 
0  -3762 
0-3949 
0-4210 
20  "   
From  these  results  it  follows :  (1)  that  ergot  and  mould  have  a 
peptonizing  action  on  the  albumins  and  favor  their  decomposition; 
(2)  the  degree  of  putrefaction  of  the  albumins  is  directly  proportional 
to  their  peptonization;  (3)  in  the  first  stages  of  putrefaction,  the 
decomposition  of  the  albumins  is  greater  in  ergot  meal  than  in  mouldy 
or  pure  meal,  but  in  the  more  advanced  stages  these  differences  are  not 
so  marked.  Further  researches  on  the  decomposition  of  albumins  by 
the  Claviceps  purpurea,  and  the  part  played  by  various  genera  of  fungi 
are  promised. — Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  Dec,  1883;  Berichte,  xvi,  p.  1975. 
The  Physiological  Action  of  Coffee—  According  to  the  result 
of  experiments  recently  made  by  Messrs.  Couty  and  Guirnaraes  to 
ascertain  the  precise  physiological  action  of  coffee,  that  beverage  is  not 
a  preventer  of  tissue- waste.  The  maintenance  of  nutrition  is,  no 
doubt,  improved  by  its  consumption,  as  Gubler  asserted  ;  but  simply 
because  it  involves  an  increased  assimilation  of  nitrogenous  food 
through  improving  the  appetite,  when  not  taken  in  excess,  and  thereby 
encouraging  its  consumer  to  take  nutritious  food. — Louisv.  Med.  News  ; 
Brit.  Med.  Jour. 
