107
Dr. Neubauer.
Dr. Neubau or is very serious, very intense, and an indefatigable
worker. Ile uses the Ilernst light as a source of monochromatic light,
v;ith a saturated solution of potassium bichromate. The results,, he
says, are very satisfactory, particularly as all the results are com¬
pared with one another. He deprecates strongly the use of animal char¬
coal in filtering solutions containing B-oxybutyric acid for he maintains
that the acid is held back by the charcoal. The transition from 3-oxy-
butyric acid to diacetic acid, he believes, is more or less of a rever¬
sible reaction, and in normal individuals there is no retardation of
these oxidation steps. In diabetics there is probably a retardation
after the diacetic acid step. Both B-oxybutyric acid and diacetic
acid should be in about the same proportion, if there is equilibrium.
As a matter of fact, he has recently found that this is so. Dr. Ileubauer
has also made a number of important experiments on the syntheses in the
living organ with artificial circulation. His theory with regard to the
reversible reaction between B-oxybutyric and diacetic acid is certainly
very interesting and worthy of further study.