1) In intact mice, given doses of 2.5 mg/10 g of crude sanshotoxin, spontaneous limb movement was inhibited and akinesia was produced. Doses of more than 4.0 mg/10 g produced akinesia, abnormal posture, tremor of muscles, repeating clonic and tonic convulsions, dnd, then, opisthotonus and apnea followed by death. 2) The main Specific symptoms as mentioned above were observed in all unilaterally decrebrized mice. However, smaller doses, such as 2.5 mg/10 g, given by the intraperitoneal route, was sufficient to produce those symptoms. The same effect was shown with doses of 0.5 mg/10 g of the toxin administered locally on the mesencephalon. 3) The symptoms observed in unilaterally decerebrized animals did not differ from those in bilaterally decerebrized animals, except for tonic convulsions which were not always observed in the latter. 4) The somatic motor activity of the mice was estimated by UEHARA's method. When small doses of 0.4 mg/10 g was given, contradictory phenomena, i.e., inhibition and stimulation were produced. After the administration of 0.5 mg/10 g, however, there occurred a transient hyperkinesia and significant inhibitory movement, a decrease in amplitude and frequency of limb contraction, and an decrease in tonus which was followed by akinesia. Akinesia was produced more distinctly with doses of 1.5 mg/10 g. 5) Sanshotoxin, as well as bulbocapnine, acts synergetically with chloral hydrate and antipyrine. 6) These facts suggest that sanshotoxin acts on the extrapyramidal system extending from the corpus striatum to the diencephalon and mesencephalon.

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Most of the nutritional and physiological studies in respect to the nitrogen balance in the chicken require the determination of uric acid. In this paper, uric acid was determined by several methods, involving colorimetry, titrimetry, ultraviolet absorbency, and manometry in combination with uricase, in order to evaluate their benefit and accuracy for the specimens of different nature taken from the chicken, i.e., blood, viscera, urine, and excreta. When the amount of available plasma is limited, determination of uric acid through absorbency of the supernatant at 290mμ, as was reported by BERGMANN, has a special advantage over the precipitation method. Because the latter method gave inaccurate results when the uric acid content of the sample was less than 200μg, which corresponds to 2 ml of absolute plasma. For the determination of uric acid in the urine or excreta, an iodometric method, reported by BAKER, was the simplest but its reproducibility was not satisfactory. Manometric determination of uric acid may be recommended when the specimens are taken from excreta or from viscera. Homogenation of visceral material with dilute ethylalcohol secures accurate manometry. Data concerning the uric acid content in the chicken plasma, excreta, liver, kidnies, and brain, in health and disease, are shown.

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