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SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS OF MEASUREMENTS OF FOAM TIME
Author(s) -
Schütz F.
Publication year - 1943
Publication title -
quarterly journal of experimental physiology and cognate medical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1469-445X
pISSN - 0033-5541
DOI - 10.1113/expphysiol.1943.sp000878
Subject(s) - alcohol , chemistry , chromatography , staining , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , biology , engineering , genetics
The foam stability, when measured under standard conditions, of solutions of alcohol in water was found to increase with increasing concentrations of alcohol, but only up to a certain concentration, when any further addition of alcohol decreased the foam stability. This particular concentration where foam stability was maximal (critical foam‐time concentration) was found to be a characteristic for many liquids. The concentrations of alcohols in water which are known to have the highest biological activity (germicidal, toxic) are very similar to these critical foam‐time concentrations. Other experiments also suggest that the germicidal or toxic action of alcohols on suspended cells is connected with the same principles which cause the mixtures to produce a more stable foam at the concentrations which are also biologically most potent. An experiment with Sudan IV in alcoholic solutions shows that at the critical foam‐time concentration, the staining property of Sudan IV is undergoing a change, and suggests that staining may not only depend on the presence of the substance in which the dyestuff is soluble, but also on the presence of a substance in which it is less soluble, or insoluble, and on the ratio between these two substances. I am greatly indebted to Professor J. H. Gaddum and Professor P. C. Cloake for valuable advice and interest in this work.