THE EFFECT OF CERTAIN NARCOTICS (URETHANES) ON PERMEABILITY OF LIVING CELLS TO WATER

¹ From the Laboratory of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., and the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass.

1. The effect of narcotics (urethanes and carbamates) on cell permeability to water was studied by measuring the rate of swelling of unfertilized eggs of the sea urchin, Arbacia punctulata, in hypotonic sea water and in hypotonic dextrose solution.

2. Narcotics in the presence of sea water do not decrease permeability to water beyond the value normally found in sea water.

3. But narcotics have a tendency to reduce permeability to water, being, however, less effective in this respect than are bivalent cations. This tendency to decrease permeability is demonstrated when narcotics are used in solutions free from bivalent cations, i.e., in hypotonic solutions of dextrose.

4. The effect of narcotics on permeability to water depends on the chemical composition of the medium in which the narcotizing compound is dissolved.

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