Absorption of inorganic salts and sugars by vaccinia and by coagulated casein particles

Summary The salt-impenetrable space of vaccinia particles isolated from vaccine pulp by isoelectric precipitation method was estimated by measuring the salt quantity added to the suspension of the vaccinia particles of a known concentration, which were centrifuged off after the addition of the salt at a weakly acid p_H (about 5,4). The salts used were NaCl, KCl and CaCl₂. It was found thus that salt-impenetrable space of the particles varied with the concentrations of the salts, in the solution of which the particles were suspended. There was no definite relation between the concentration of the salt and the volume of the space.The shape of the curve representing the relation between the volume of the space and the concentration of a salt was different with each preparation of the vaccinia particles, and the curve was also different with each kind of the salts; even with the same preparation different curves were obtained if the experiments were carried out at different temperature.Similar experiments were made also with glucose and fructose. These two monosaccharides behaved themselves in a very complicated manner towards the particles, in assuming a different attitude from each other, although the shape of the curve tended in most cases to be alike with each other. As already pointed out lactose did not assume so complicated an attitude as did glucose.These phenomena were not peculiar to the vaccinia particles, but also found with coagulated casein particles as well as with protoplasmprotein particles having no virus action.