Der Vitaminbedarf des amerikanischen ReismehlkäfersTribolium confusum Duval

Summary As previously reported the larvae ofTribolium confusum require two unknown factors obtainable from yeast apart from various vitamines of the B-group for normal growth. One of these possesses acidic properties. This factor could be fully replaced by a folic acid preparation of potency 4000 kindly placed at our disposal by Prof.R. J. Williams. This may be regarded as a possibility but not as a proof that folic acid is the reported factor.

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C. A. Grob dankt der Haco-Gesellschaft AG., Gümligen, für die Unterstützung dieser Arbeit.     

Nachweis eines androgenen Wirkstoffes im Hypophysenvorderlappen

Ohne Zusammenfassung9. Mitt. Untersuchungen über Organextrakte; 8. Mitt. vgl. Helv. chim. acta28 im Druck.     

Cathétérisme intracardiaque en clinique

Summary Cardiac catheterization, initially conducted byForssmann in 1929, has become a qualified clinical method. A fine rubber catheter is introduced into the antecubital vein and mechanically reaches the right heart chambers; auricular and ventricular, as well as the pulmonary artery. In some exceptional cases the left auricle and ventricle likewise lend themselves to exploration.     

Fettsäuren aus dehydratisiertem Rizinusöl mit sog. Vitamin-F-Wirkung

Summary The fatty acids from dehydrated castor oil, mainly consisting of 9,11- and 9,12-linoleic acid, show in biological tests vitamin effects similar to those of the so-called essential fatty acids.     

Un curare d'une Erythrine africaine

Summary An alcaloid C₁₆H₁₉NO₃ has been isolated fromErythrina tholloniana; the iodohydrate of this erythroidine has a melting point of 225°C and 239°C for its chlorhydrate. It has a powerful curare-like action on the frog or on its isolated sciatic-sartorius preparation; at a concentration of less than 1/1,000,000, a complete neuromuscular block is produced: the electrical stimulation of the motor nerve does not produce any contraction, but the muscle reacts by an end-plate potential having the same characteristics (shape, duration, possibility of summation) as the electrical waves produced in the same preparation curarized by ordinary curare or by quaternary ammonium derivatives. Decurarization by veratrine 1/200,000 is accompanied by the same electrical reactions as those which have been described in preparations treated by curare.On mammals, the alcaloid has little curariform activity; on the isolated phrenic-diaphragm preparation of the rat, incomplete block was produced at a concentration of 1/5000.     

Babylonian solar theory on the Antikythera mechanism

This article analyzes the angular spacing of the degree marks on the zodiac scale of the Antikythera mechanism and demonstrates that over the entire preserved 88° of the zodiac, the marks are systematically placed too close together to be consistent with a uniform distribution over 360°. Thus, in some other part of the zodiac scale (not preserved), the degree marks have been spaced farther apart. By contrast, the day marks on the Egyptian calendar scale are spaced uniformly, apart from minor errors. A solar equation of center is apparent which rises by nearly 2.7° over the preserved portion of the zodiac. The placement of the degree marks indicates that, in the preserved portion of the zodiac, the Sun was considered to run at a uniform pace of about 30° per synodic month, which is consistent with the Sun’s speed in the fast zone of the Babylonian solar theory of System A.