[COXTRIRUTIOK FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS IKSTITUTE OF TECHXOLOGY.]
REVIEW OF AMERICAN CHEMICAL RESEARCH. VOL. VII.
NO. j.
ARTHUR A. NOYES, Editor ; A. G. ~VOODMIAN,Associate Editor. REVIEWERS: Analytical Chemistry, H. P. Talbot and F. J. Moore ; Biological Chemistry, A . G. Woodman ; Carbohydrates, G. W. Rolfe ; General Chemistry, A . A. Noyes ; Geological and Mineralogical Chernistry, W.0. Crosby and C. H. Warren; Inorganic Chemistry, Henry Fay; Metallurgical Chemistry and Assaying, H. 0. Hofman ; Organic Chemistry, J. F. Norris ; Physical Chemistry, H. M. Goodwin ; Sanitary Chemistry, E. €1. Richards; Industrial Chemistry, A . H. Gill and F. H. Thorp.
BIOLOGICAL CHEnISTRY. A . G. Woonnr.m, KEVIEWER.
The Bio-Chemical Basis of Pathology. BY HESRY A. BUNKER. Phila. Med. 7 , 441-446.--h discussion of the chemical transformations which take place in the processes of assimilation and disintegration within the living body. T h e article is not suited to brief review.
I.,
The Chemistry of Ipecacuanha. BY B. H . PAUL AND A. J. COWNLEY. Am. 1.Phann., 73, 57-66 ; 107-116.After reviewing at some length the observations of previous experimenters, the authors present the results of their investigations, which go to show that ipecacuanha resembles cinchona bark, that it contains at least three alkaloids and probably others in small proportion. Of the three alkaloids which have been isolated one is uncrystallizable, but capable of forming crystallizable though extremely soluble salts. For this base the name emetine is reserved. T h e second alkaloid, named cephaeline, is crystallizable, less soluble in ether than is emetine, freely soluble in alcohol or chloroform ; much more soluble than emetine in hot petroleum spirit and readily soluble in solutions of caustic alkali. T h e third alkaloid, named psychotrine, has been isolated in only small amount and exists in the drug in small proportion compared with the other two. Physiological and Toxicological Effects of Tellurium Compounds, with a Special Study of Their Influence on Nutrition. BY I,.D. MEAD AND WILLIAM J. GIES. Am. J . Physial., 5, 104-14g.-Experiments carried out on dogs brought to a state of nitrogenous equilibrium showed that non-toxic doses of tellurium (oxide, tellurate, tartrate, and tellurite) did not materially affect metabo!ism. Large doses retarded gastric digestion, and caused violent vomiting, loss of appetite, and somnolence. Intro-
1.04
Review o j Arrrericaz Chemical h’esrarch
duced uuder the skin telluriuiii (tartrate) produced a mnrked effect. ending in paralysis and death from asphyxia. Tellurium was recovered in considerable quantity from most of the internal organs. Tellurium was elimiiiated in iiietallic form. ;is illethyl telluride, and iii a soluble form in sniall quaiitit!., i i i tlie urine aud bile. Methyl telluride invariably appeared in the breath a few minutes after the iiitroductioti of even very siiiall qiiaiitities of tellurium and persisted for iiiotiths after tlie last dosage. T h e secretion of acid in tlie gastric juice was markedly arrested by tellurium compounds, even in sinall anioiuit. With men, the inhalation of tellurium oxide caused nausea, somuoieuce. depression, and constipation. Methyl teiluride. when iiihaletl. induced sleepiness and nausea, arid imparted its characteristic odor to the breath and the escretioiis from the skin. The nctioii of tellurium in the body was found t u resem1,le. i11 iiiaiiy res]wct.+,that of seletiiuiii, arsenic, and antinion!.. Concerning Lipase, the Fat-Splitting Enzyme and the Reversibility of Its Action. 1 3 J~. H. K i s ’ r r . ~.IN A. $. LOETEKHAKT. A/?/. C’IICIII. -1.. 24, 49i-j25, -~Ethyl l)lit\l-ate is so easil5- h?.drol>-zedb>-lipase that it l i a beeti foiiiid posiihle by means of this reagent to slioiv the premice of I i p s c in a number of organs and tissues in the animal organism, iiotabl!, in the liver, stomach aiid .;niall intestiiie. Lipase is inore stable than liab hitherto beeii supposed but is alnivst conipletelj- renio~-ed from its solution:, by repeated filtration at ordinar!- preshiire : ethereal salts are Iiydrolyzed by it most rapidl?. at 403 C. ;!lid a t 65‘ to 70’ C. the enzyme is tlestro!.ed. The stahility oi ethereal salts tolvard lipase decreases ivitli iiicreaye i n iiinlecular weight of the combined acid, tlie converse of this heiiig found true for the hydrolysis of these ethereal salt3 by acids. ?dost of tlie coniriioii antiseptics exert a liarinful effect on lipase. this being especially true of sodium fluoride. hydrofluoric acid aiid the acids generally. -1study of the reaction a.i,th ethereal salts shows that the velocity of the reaction is not proportional to the active iiiass of the ethereal halt lmt is nearly proportional to the coilcentration of the enzyme. T h e reaction is iiicomplete, but approaches conipletioii with very concentrated extracts of lipase or very siiiall amounts of the ethereal salt. The coefficient of velocity as calculated for a reaction of tlie first order i i not a constant but falls off as the reaction proceeds. By nieatis of lipase a synthesis of eth!-1 butyrate from but>-ricacid and alcohol has been effected, showing that the reaction i> a reversible one. On the Toxicity of Normal Urine--BI- h l E r + v I s DRIA .SHACII. J . Ezpf. Il.fedi&c, 5, 31 5-3 I 8 . - From normal uriiie was obtained a substance or substances of an organic nature, possessing iiiarked toxic properties. I t is believed that the effects produced could not hare 1)eeii due to any of the orgarlic bodies usually iriclitdcd
Carbohydrafes.
105
i n the list of conipouiids contained in normal urine. hut the substance has not as yet beeii isolated.
On the Constituents of Jamaica Dogwood. BY P A ~ C. L FREERAND A. M. CLOVER. Phanu. Arch., 4, 21-28 ; .-li)i. Chem. J , 25, 390-~13.-The authors have isolatedfrom the bark of the Jamaica dogwood a number of interesting bodies, chief among which are piscidir arid, C,,H,,07, its ethyl ester and other derivatives. T h e presence of a number of other substances has been demonstrated, but lack of material prevented the determination of their exact chemical constitution. Evidence is presented to show that the substance called piscidine and hitherto supposed to be the active principle of Jamaica dogwood is a mixture and is pharmacologically inert. CARBOHYDRATES. c. \VOODJIAK, REVIEWER Notes on Sugar Beets. BY P. F. TROWBRIDGE. J. Am. Cheni. Soc., 23, 216--223.-As the average of twenty-five determinations, the author finds 0.919 to be the factor representing t h e relation of the sugar in the juice to the sugar in the beet. T h e average sugar content of a number of beets grown under precisely similar conditions was 12.61 per cent., the maximum being 18.2 per cent., and the minimum 8. j, per cent. Comparison of analyses by digestion with hot water and digestion with hot alcohol showed practically no difference. T h e highest sugar content was found to be in the middle portion of the beet, the lowest in the upper portion. d
G H’.KOLFE
REVIE~ER
On the Results of a Search for Other Sugars Than Xylose and Dextrose in the Products of the Hydrolysis of Wood from the Trunks of Trees. BY F. H. STORER. B d l . BZusey h s l . H a m . Coll. 2, 43 j-46 j . -The current yiew that the wood of tree trunk3 contain much starch is an error which arose formerly from use of improper methods of estimating starch; e i z . , hydrolysis by dilute acids. I t is now known that when wood is hydrolyzed by acids much of the xylan contained is changed to xylose, till recently considered dextrose derived from starch. Testing trunk wood with barley malt shows little starch actually, although at certain seasons appreciable quantities are found in the twigs and roots. To solve the question of the origin of the great mass of sugar obtained in the spring from the trunks of maples and other trees, the author has studied the action of hydrolysis of acids on maple and birch wood, also cotton. T h e amounts of sugars formed were estimated with Fehling’s liquor and the rotatory power of these sugars was noted. T h e method of investigation was novel in that an ~
