Abstract
Summary
The carbohydrates glucose, maltose, and sucrose produced no effect on the germicidal efficiency of mercuric chloride. The concentration required to kill Staphylococcus aureus was the same whether the sugars were present or absent.
The amino acids glycine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, arginine, lysine, and cystein produced considerable inactivation of mercuric chloride. With the exception of cystein the acids produced the same degree of inactivation when employed in equimolar concentrations. Cystein produced more inactivation than the other acids because of the presence of a sulfhydryl group which is also capable of reacting with mercury.
Gelatin, Aminoids, and peptone, also produced considerable inactivation of mercuric chloride. The degree of inactivation was found to parallel the number of free amino groups present. The results show that the inactivation of mercuric chloride was dependent upon the presence of proteins, protein split products, and amino acids. Carbohydrates were without effect.
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