Evening star., 1935-04-22

an especial fondness for the central
nervous system. Many Of them attack
the brain and spinal cord. causing in
Examinations classified as various forms
Of encephalitis, and afterwards can be
recovered from the cord and brain
itself, but not from the spinal fluid.
This one Is found only In the spinal
fluid.
Progress in his continued search
for the mysterious substance RESPONSE
BILE for the irritability Of protoplasm-
which Is the basic factor in the ability
Of living organisms to respond to their
environments and one of the distinc-
tive characteristics Of life itself-was
reported by DR.. w. J. v. Osterhout
of the Rockefeller Institute.
!Osterhout Follows Clue.
DR.. Ousterhout is following up q
clue first reported at the National
Academy meeting last year. He is
working with cells Of fresh-water
plant, the nitella, which are fairly
large and respond to electrical stimu-
lation like nerve fibers. The great ad-
vantage is that whatever takes place
is confined to single cell and hence
the problem Is simplified.
Last year DR.. Osterhout found that
when . nitella cell was placed in dis
titled water 1t lost its irritability. In
other words, the water acted as an
anesthetic. The essential function
of any anesthetic Is to reduce nerv-
Gus irritability 50 that the subject
will be insensible to pain, The only
way in which the water could an
esthetize the plant cell, DR.. Oster-
hout believed, was by soaking some
thing out Of it-the mysterious sub
stance r which was responsible for
its irritability.. When the water In
which the cell had been soaked was
concentrated and the product applied
to the cell again irritability was re-
stored. 1t also was restored in q few
seconds by human blood. Appar-
emily r was common to both. Yet 1t
could not be detected by chemical
analysis Of the water.
Whatever r may be DR.. Osterhout
points out, II must be one Of the most
vital factors in the phenomena OF life.
II this substance, or variety OF sub
stances, is responsible for nervous ir-
ritability . deficiency Of 1t might be
expected to lead to serious nervous
disturbances. He has experimented
with a number Of chemicals to de-
termine their effect in restoring the
irritability Of the nitella cell. It finds
it Is effected by adrenaline, ephedrine.
guanadine and . number of chemical
combinations.
1t would not be surprising, he re-
ported to the academy today, to find
that variety of substances are effec-
tive. He Is looking for 1t in whatever
tends to break down the protoplasmic
surface Of the cell.
It has long been known that when
it is secreted from the pancreas,
trypsin Is inactive and only when 1t
enters the small intestine does 1t be-
come active. DR.. Northrop found that
the trypsin is combined with the in
hibitor substance. The effect Of this
inhibitor Is neutralized by salt and
the trypsin becomes active again.
He found that when a small
amount of the active engine was
added to q solution of the same en-
lyme in inactive form the result was
a great increase in the amount of the
active form. He reported: THE trans
formation of the inactive to the active
form Is caused by the active engine
itself. The experiment represents the
propagation Of the active engine
since the addition Of q small amount
results In the production Of . very
large amount, Just as inoculating q
culture media with bacteria results
in the production Of many more bac-
terra. The effect of the inhibitor Is
to inactivate the trypsin in the same