Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Spectrographic Analyses of Human Spinal Fluid.

1936; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 35; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3181/00379727-35-8942c

1535-3702

Gordon H. Scott, Janice McMillen,

thermodynamics and calorimetric analyses

In connection with other studies on inorganic salt and metal distribution in cells and tissues we have had occasion to examine spectrographically a series of samples of spinal fluids taken from the usual hospital and clinic population. Our attention was directed toward a search for elements that are not usually recorded as being normal constituents of human spinal fluid. These are Pb, Al, Ba, Sr, B, Sn. Samples of spinal fluid were generously provided for us by Drs, A. F. Hartman and W. B. Wendell. The method used routinely in our examinations was as follows: 2 cc. of spinal fluid were placed on a carefully cleaned glass plate and evaporated to dryness at 100°C. The residue was scraped together, placed on a pure carbon electrode, wetted slightly with a small drop of the original fluid and dried. The loaded carbon was placed in front of the slit of a Bausch and Lomb Medium Quartz Spectrograph and the salt ignited by means of an intermittent arc. About 100 flashes of the arc covering a total time interval of 80 seconds sufficed to produce good pictures of lines throughout the ultra-violet spectrum. The intermittent arc is formed by making and breaking electrical contact between 2 vertical electrodes. The upper one has a motor-driven piston-like motion while the lower one is fixed and capped with the sample. In our search for Al we used 22 samples of spinal fluid. The line used to detect the presence of aluminum was the 3082.16 Å line and as a reference line we employed the conveniently placed 3096.92 Å line of Mg. Those Al lines of greater intensity than that of the Mg were called “strong” and those of much less intensity were designated as “weak”.