Abstract
LONDON. Royal Society, April 29.—Sir William Crookes, president, in the chair.—H. Hartridge and A. V. Hill: The transmission of infra-red rays by the media of the eye, the transmission of radiant energy by Crookes's and other glasses, and the radiation from various light sources. The different eye structures were found by the authors to absorb infra-red rays of different length to approximately the same extent as would a layer of water of the right equivalent thickness. From the values of the percentage absorption of water at different wave-length they have, therefore, calculated the amount of heat absorbed by cornea, iris, and lens. The heat absorbed by the lens was found to be too slight for cataracterous changes to be due to direct action. The condition might still be caused, as Parsons suggested, by impairment in the nutrition of the lens brought about by the action of heat rays on the ciliary body and iris. Samples of Crookes's glasses were tested and were found to absorb the heat waves strongly, and also to some extent the ultraviolet.—E. Beard and W. Cramer: Surface tension and ferment action. The action of a ferment on a substrate is retarded or inhibited by extending the surface of the system in which the reaction proceeds. This effect has been studied in some, detail in the system cane-sugar-invertase.—W. Cramer Surface tension as a factor controlling cell metabolism. The considerations developed in this paper are based on the fact demonstrated experimentally that the action of ferments is conditioned by surface tension. The great surface development in the cell and the living organism must therefore produce conditions which markedly affect the action of ferments in vivo when compared with their action in vitro. It is shown how the cell may, through the factor of surface tension, control and regulate its metabolism. It is thus possible to form a conception of the chemical organisation of the cell without having to assume the existence of hypothetical membranes in the cytoplasm which are supposed to surround the different chemical systems and separate them from each other. Lastly, it is pointed out that if the conceptions formulated in this paper are correct, substances which are strongly surface active, but which do not affect protoplasm chemically, should exercise a profound effect on the metabolism of the cell. This expectation is realised in the action of narcotic and cytolytic substances.
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Societies and Academies . Nature 95, 279–280 (1915). https://doi.org/10.1038/095279a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/095279a0