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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 May 2009
Formic aldehyde, the simplest possible aldehyde, is a substance possessed of considerable biological and chemical interest. Its biological interest consists in the fact that it has long been regarded as forming the first product of plant assimilation, and has recently been actually demonstrated as such in plants. The ease with which this substance undergoes polymerisation resulting in the formation of sugars, under the influence of simple reagents, justifies the assumption that formic aldehyde is an essential link in the building-up of complex carbohydrates by plants. In addition to this it has recently been requisitioned as the only possible source of proteid anabolism. Its interest to the physiological chemist is that it combines energetically with proteids, and to a less extent with carbohydrates, effecting considerable alteration of their physical and physiological properties. This behaviour seems to be directly antagonistic to the biological rôle ascribed to the substance above. This apparent anomaly of the same substance being both a poison and an essential physiological constituent of living cells is discussed by Loew. It seems to depend upon the fact that what may be termed the biological formic aldehyde is present in small quantities (dilute solutions) and is quickly used up, owing to the ease with which it polymerises or forms innocuous compounds. This last property has an immediate bearing upon the subject of this inquiry in so far as it may serve to explain the results obtained by the administration of small quantities of formic aldehyde to man in his food. It is in this connection that formic aldehyde is of interest to us, and the importance of this subject is in our opinion sufficient to justify us in reviewing somewhat exhaustively the results of other observers with regard to the chemical and physiological properties of this substance.
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1 Hehner, (Analyst, xxii. 1897)Google Scholar said in a discussion on formic aldehyde that he had seen the results of certain experiments which showed that the soluble compound formed by formic aldehyde and egg albumin was digested more easily than egg albumin itself.
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1 The results of Mayberry and Goldsmith were re-calculated by us, from the average of their experiments (taking the average of the three control experiments as 100).
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1 loc. cit.
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5 “Lipase” seems unaffected by formic aldehyde. Kastle, and Loewenhart, , Am. Chem. Journ. xxiv. No. 6.Google Scholar
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6 E.g. he obtained three deaths in the case of the 1 in 50,000 milk, none with the 1 in 25,000, and two with the 1 in 12,500.
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1 By the assistance of a number of observers we were able to convince ourselves that formic aldehyde in the strength of 1 in 2,000 imparted to milk in the cold a characteristic taste. If the milk were warmed to drinking temperature 1 in 5,000 could be easily detected.
2 Vide Richmond, Droop and Harrison, , Analyst, 1900, p. 116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
It is further interesting in this connection to observe, assuming Benedicenti's figures to be correct (loc. cit. p. 243), that milk could fix owing to its 3% of casein 0·0036% formic aldehyde, whilst 1 in 25,000 formic aldehyde corresponds to 0·004%. There seems to be a relation between the fixing of the formic aldehyde by the casein and its power as a preservative as the time during which this amount will keep milk sweet corresponds approximately to the time required for the proteid to fix all the formic aldehyde.
1 Lepierre, loc. cit. Compare also Schwarz, loc. cit.
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1 In these remarks throughout the entire paper we refer to the average daily excretion in question.
1 The ratio of total sulphuric acid to actual sulphuric acid is likewise not affected; further, as has been pointed out by many observers, this ratio is of no special importance.
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1 The faeces (about 5 g.) freed from fat were ground up with 200 c.c. of dilute HCI containing some tannic acid, to fix the nucleo-proteid phosphorus. After 24 hours' standing the mixture was filtered, and washed with the tannic acid HCI solution till 100 c.c. of the washings contained no. trace of phosphoric acid. Phosphorus was then estimated in the residue by Neumann's method described under general methods.
1 Noël, Paton (Journ. of Phys., 1900)Google Scholar found that the calcium salt of glycero-phosphoric acid administered to a goat was excreted in the faeces as inorganic phosphate.
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