Abstract
IN the course of investigations on the kinetics of lysis of red blood cells by saponin and other hæmolytic agents, we have studied the effect of the addition of small amounts of various odorants. We describe below the unusual powers such adjuvants have in accelerating the process of hæmolysis. Somewhat remarkably, the activities of the odorants in this respect are paralleled by their activities in stimulating the olfactory cell membrane. This finding lends support to a theory of olfactory stimulation1 which envisages ‘puncturing’ of the olfactory cell membrane by the odorant molecules.
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References
Davies, J. T., Inter. Perfumer, 3, No. 9 (1953); Industries de la Parfumerie, 8, No. 3 (1953).
Moncrieff, R. W., “The Chemical Senses” (Leonard Hill, London, 1951).
Gorter, E., and Grendel, F., J. Exp. Med., 41, 439 (1925). Davson, H., and Danielli, J. F., “The Permeability of Natural Membranes” (Cambridge, 1951).
Ponder, E., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 38 (1939); J. Gen. Physiol., 25, 247 (1941); 27, 1 (1943). “Hæmolysis and Related Phenomena” (J. and A. Churchill, London, 1948).
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DAVIES, J., TAYLOR, F. A Model System for the Olfactory Membrane. Nature 174, 693–694 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/174693a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/174693a0
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