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Vitamin D in poultry husbandry
hfw,
1933.1
CURRENT
TOPICS.
621
sweets, the presence of chalk in oat meal, the presence of alum in flour and bread, and the presence of plaster of Paris in muffins. The major activities have dealt with foods, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, condiments, food preservatives, feeding stuffs, fertilizers, water, ait, drugs, and disinfectants. Other subjects have been inorganic analysis, rubber, mineral oils, cellulose and paper, and various aspects of forensic chemistry. Scattered through this section are references to the researches of an eminent Philadelphia chemist, Henry Leffmann, and his colleagues on such subjects as honey, the occurrence of sulphur dioxide in commercial gelatin, the determination of the butter fat content of milk, the tests for boiled milk, and the influence of certain food preservatives (salicylic acid, boric acid, sulphites) and of saccharine upon the action of the enzyme diastase. J. S. H.
Effect of Radio Vibrations on Drugs.-DAVID I. MACHT (Jour. Am. Pharmaceutical ASSO., 1933, XXII, 205-212) exposed 5 different drugs (benzaldehyde, tincture of digitalis, aqueous solutions of mercurochrome, cocaine hydrochloride, and eserine sulphate) to the sounds or vibrations of a radio by placing them in close proximity to the loud speaker. After such exposure for several hours, assays (physical, chemical, and biological) were made of both the exposed drugs and unexposed control samples. The specimens which had been exposed to radio vibrations had undergone more pronounced changes than their respective controls. These results are of practical importance in connection with the keeping qualities of drugs. As yet, it is uncertain which vibrations or waves, supersonic, audible sound, or mechanical vibrations, produce the changes. J. S. H. Atomic Weight of Lead from CyrtOIite.---GREGORY PAUL BAXTER AND CHESTER M. ALTER (Jour. Am. Chem. SOL, 1933, LV, 14451448) have determined the atomic weight of lead obtained from the mineral cyrtolite, from Bedford, New York. This mineral is essentially zirconium silicate containing lead and uranium but no thorium. The ratio of lead chloride to silver was measured, and the atomic weight of lead calculated, and found to be 205.92 f 0.02. Common lead was found to have an atomic weight of 207.21. Therefore, the cyrtolite or uranium lead was essentially free from common lead. J. S. H. Vitamin D in Poultry Husbandry.- ALLEN W. EDSON (University of Minnesota Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 286, 1-12, 1932) reports
622
CURREKT
TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
that the addition of cod liver oil (preferably 2 per cent.) to the ration during the winter months increases egg production by pullets. The hatching power of the eggs is very substantially increased. These results are attributed to the vitamin D content of the cod liver oil, for similar increases in egg production and hatching power were observed when hens which had received no cod liver oil were turned out of doors and exposed to the direct sunlight regardless of whether or not they then obtained any green feed (the source of vitamin A). J. S. H. Loschmidt’s Number. This is the number of atoms in a gramatom or the number of molecules in a gram-molecule. S. E. VIRGO (Science Progress, 1933, XXVII, 634-649) has made a survey of the more than eighty different experimental determinations of this number by 21 different methods. He concludes that the most probable value is (60.62 f 0.03) X 10~~. J. S. H. Action of Tnvertase at Low Temperatures.-M. A. JOSLYN AND M. SHERRILL (Ino!. and Eng. Chem., Industrial Edition, 1933, XXV, 416-417) have studied the influence of low temperatures upon the action of the enzyme invertase (sucrase, saccharase, invertin) which hydrolyzes cane sugar or sucrose to invert sugar, the equimolecular mixture of glucose and fructose. They used sucrose solutions having a hydrogen ion concentration of approximately pH 4.5. Invertase was added to these solutions; and they were then kept continuously at a temperature of - 12’ to - 16” C., for periods ranging between I I and I 17 days. Hydrolysis of the sucrose was apparent at even II days, and had become quite appreciable at the end of 4 months when 0.01 milligram or more of The sucrose was invertase was present in each cc. of solution. hydrolyzed in concentrations as great as 68 per cent. As a rule, other factors being equal, the amount of hydrolysis increased with the period of storage, and with an increase in the concentration of the invertase. However, invertase in a concentration of 0.001 milligram per cc. exerted only a negligible action in all but the most dilute sucrose solutions. Practically no hydrolysis of the sucrose occurred when its solutions containing invertase were stored for 55 days at a temperature of approximately - 40” C. J. S. H. Tannin
Spot Tests.-J.
ceutical Asso., 1933, XXII,
HAMPTON HOCH (Jour. Am. Pharma121-124) has studied the behavior of
1933.1
CURRENT
TOPICS.
621
sweets, the presence of chalk in oat meal, the presence of alum in flour and bread, and the presence of plaster of Paris in muffins. The major activities have dealt with foods, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, condiments, food preservatives, feeding stuffs, fertilizers, water, ait, drugs, and disinfectants. Other subjects have been inorganic analysis, rubber, mineral oils, cellulose and paper, and various aspects of forensic chemistry. Scattered through this section are references to the researches of an eminent Philadelphia chemist, Henry Leffmann, and his colleagues on such subjects as honey, the occurrence of sulphur dioxide in commercial gelatin, the determination of the butter fat content of milk, the tests for boiled milk, and the influence of certain food preservatives (salicylic acid, boric acid, sulphites) and of saccharine upon the action of the enzyme diastase. J. S. H.
Effect of Radio Vibrations on Drugs.-DAVID I. MACHT (Jour. Am. Pharmaceutical ASSO., 1933, XXII, 205-212) exposed 5 different drugs (benzaldehyde, tincture of digitalis, aqueous solutions of mercurochrome, cocaine hydrochloride, and eserine sulphate) to the sounds or vibrations of a radio by placing them in close proximity to the loud speaker. After such exposure for several hours, assays (physical, chemical, and biological) were made of both the exposed drugs and unexposed control samples. The specimens which had been exposed to radio vibrations had undergone more pronounced changes than their respective controls. These results are of practical importance in connection with the keeping qualities of drugs. As yet, it is uncertain which vibrations or waves, supersonic, audible sound, or mechanical vibrations, produce the changes. J. S. H. Atomic Weight of Lead from CyrtOIite.---GREGORY PAUL BAXTER AND CHESTER M. ALTER (Jour. Am. Chem. SOL, 1933, LV, 14451448) have determined the atomic weight of lead obtained from the mineral cyrtolite, from Bedford, New York. This mineral is essentially zirconium silicate containing lead and uranium but no thorium. The ratio of lead chloride to silver was measured, and the atomic weight of lead calculated, and found to be 205.92 f 0.02. Common lead was found to have an atomic weight of 207.21. Therefore, the cyrtolite or uranium lead was essentially free from common lead. J. S. H. Vitamin D in Poultry Husbandry.- ALLEN W. EDSON (University of Minnesota Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 286, 1-12, 1932) reports
622
CURREKT
TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
that the addition of cod liver oil (preferably 2 per cent.) to the ration during the winter months increases egg production by pullets. The hatching power of the eggs is very substantially increased. These results are attributed to the vitamin D content of the cod liver oil, for similar increases in egg production and hatching power were observed when hens which had received no cod liver oil were turned out of doors and exposed to the direct sunlight regardless of whether or not they then obtained any green feed (the source of vitamin A). J. S. H. Loschmidt’s Number. This is the number of atoms in a gramatom or the number of molecules in a gram-molecule. S. E. VIRGO (Science Progress, 1933, XXVII, 634-649) has made a survey of the more than eighty different experimental determinations of this number by 21 different methods. He concludes that the most probable value is (60.62 f 0.03) X 10~~. J. S. H. Action of Tnvertase at Low Temperatures.-M. A. JOSLYN AND M. SHERRILL (Ino!. and Eng. Chem., Industrial Edition, 1933, XXV, 416-417) have studied the influence of low temperatures upon the action of the enzyme invertase (sucrase, saccharase, invertin) which hydrolyzes cane sugar or sucrose to invert sugar, the equimolecular mixture of glucose and fructose. They used sucrose solutions having a hydrogen ion concentration of approximately pH 4.5. Invertase was added to these solutions; and they were then kept continuously at a temperature of - 12’ to - 16” C., for periods ranging between I I and I 17 days. Hydrolysis of the sucrose was apparent at even II days, and had become quite appreciable at the end of 4 months when 0.01 milligram or more of The sucrose was invertase was present in each cc. of solution. hydrolyzed in concentrations as great as 68 per cent. As a rule, other factors being equal, the amount of hydrolysis increased with the period of storage, and with an increase in the concentration of the invertase. However, invertase in a concentration of 0.001 milligram per cc. exerted only a negligible action in all but the most dilute sucrose solutions. Practically no hydrolysis of the sucrose occurred when its solutions containing invertase were stored for 55 days at a temperature of approximately - 40” C. J. S. H. Tannin
Spot Tests.-J.
ceutical Asso., 1933, XXII,
HAMPTON HOCH (Jour. Am. Pharma121-124) has studied the behavior of