Calcium

“ To sum up, we see that, whether from food or from sea-water, calcium sulphate will tend to pass but little into solution in the albuminoid substances of the body: calcium carbonate will enter more freely, but a considerable part of it will tend to remain in solution: while calcium phosphate will pass into solution in considerable amount, but will be almost wholly precipitated again, as the albumin becomes broken down in the normal process of metabolism. ”

“ Potassium is a constitutent of both animal and vegetable food; it occurs in considerable quantity in milk, and in the juice that permeates animal flesh; and most inland plants contain it. We derive the calcium of our system from flesh, bones, eggs, milk, etc. (all of which contain salts of lime) ; most vegetables also contain lime-salts; and another source of our calcium is common water, which usually contains both bicarbonate and sulphate of lime. Magnesium in small quantity is generally found in those foods that contain calcium. Iron is a constituent of blood found in meat ”

“ The fact that calcium and magnesium act as inhibitors for both the muscular and secretory activities of the intestine does not imply that they have a similar action in other organs or in all animals. It can only be said with certainty that the chemical conditions under which the intestines of the rabbit live are fairly constant, so that the addition of calcium or magnesium in some way constantly inhibits the activity of both muscular and glandular tissues, and the addition of certain purgative salts constantly stimulates them to greater activity. ”

“ Mineral matters, such as sulphates, chlorides, phosphates and carbonates of sodium, potassium, calcium, &c., are found in different combinations and quantities in most food materials. These are used by the body in the formation of the various tissues, especially the skeletal and protective tissues, in digestion, and in metabolic processes within the body. They yield little or no energy, unless perhaps the very small amount involved in their chemical transformation. ”

“ The determination of the calcium may be completed volumetrically by washing the calcium oxalate precipitate from the filter into dilute sulphuric acid, warming, and titrating the liberated oxalic acid with a standard solution of potassium permanganate as described on page 72. When a considerable number of analyses are to be made, this procedure will save much of the time otherwise required for ignition and weighing. ”

“ Estimation of the Lime and Magnesia.—The filtrate and washings from the first precipitation, (paragraph 41,) of iron and alumina in the method of Krug and McElroy, above described, are collected and sufficient ammonium oxalate is added to precipitate the calcium. The precipitated calcium is very fine and should be collected on a gooch, under pressure. The filtrate and washings from the calcium precipitate are again collected, and a solution of sodium phosphate added to precipitate the magnesia. ”

“ To see the metal calcium you must visit a chemical laboratory where, by electrical decomposition or other ingenious process, this elusive element can be induced to part temporarily from its union with the oxygen or other body for which it has so eager an affinity, and to which it returns with such alacrity. Though calcium is certainly a metal, it is very unlike the more familiar metals such as gold or silver, copper or iron. A coin might conceivably be formed out of calcium, but it would have no stability like the coins of the well-known metals. ”

“ The human body contains a large store of phosphates which are excreted in the urine in combination with sodium and potassium—​and yet these do not draw the calcium from the blood, brain and bones! To be blunt, Nascher’s theory is absurd. The calcium in its various deposits in the body is already combined with phosphoric acid. Why should the phosphorus introduced take calcium from the phosphate radical with which it is already in combination? Nascher asserts that the phosphorus which is introduced as amorphous phosphorus is excreted as amorphous phosphate of lime within twenty-four hours. ”

“ An isotonic solution (m/6) of sodium sulphate or sodium citrate would be most favorable for this purpose.
The possible uses to which our knowledge of the action of calcium may be put has aroused some discussion. The fact that it suppresses muscular and nervous irritability (Loeb) , and as shown in the experiments above, inhibits the muscular and glandular activity of the intestine, as well as the secretory activity of the kidney, makes it seem probable that some practical use may be made of it in certain conditions in the human being. ”

“ Power and Cambier, Sayre, and Kennedy had previously called attention to the abundance of calcium in the plant, and the writer’s investigations confirm this. Pharmacologists are averse to believing calcium given per os poisonous. The writer has, however, fed 5 grams of the acetate of calcium in solution to a rabbit weighing 652 grams. This animal died in two hours, with marked irritation of the stomach, the result being due to the so-called “salt action.” ”

“ But without calcium there would neither be fertile soil for plants nor bones for animals, and consequently a world, inhabited in the same manner as our present globe, would be clearly impossible. There may be lowly organisms on this earth to which calcium is of no appreciable consequence, and it is of course conceivable that a world of living types could be constructed without the aid of that particular element which is to us so indispensable. ”

“ If the supply of calcium in the food is too small, the bones and the teeth suffer, for the blood removes the calcium from these structures. Growing children need more calcium proportionately than do adults. This is without doubt the reason pregnant women suffer so much from softening of the teeth. They are fed on foods robbed of their calcium, such as white bread and vegetables that have been drained.
Phosphorus in some forms is a poison whether taken in solid compounds or inhaled in fumes, producing phossy jaw. In other forms it is indispensable for bodily development. ”

“ Just as energy foods and proteins must be adjusted in the dietary to safeguard the health of the body, so the mineral salts must be adjusted for a like purpose. Studies made of the dietaries of a number of families brought to light the fact that the children more often suffered from a deficiency of calcium, phosphorus and iron in their diets than they did from too little protein, [25] proving that it is quite as essential to adjust the mineral salts in the diet as it is that of the organic constituents. ”

“ And some would be affected seriously, depending on the nature of the preparation that couldn't be traced to the person who should have it. The man whose unaided body couldn't utilize calcium would certainly be in for trouble but not as soon as he who couldn't make use of, say, iron. ”

“ When rectal infusions of NaCl are not retained it is possible by adding CaCl2 to the solution to stop the movements of the rectum which cause their expulsion. Enemata of NaCl containing CaCl2 are retained much better than those of pure NaCl.
The marked action of calcium on the kidney suggests that certain conditions might arise where it could be made use of. In nervous polyuria it can be given with benefit; and although we know practically nothing as to the etiology of diabetes insipidus, it is possible that calcium might be employed with advantage to stop the abnormal flow of urine. ”

“ This is the only direct evidence that has been reported that calcium has any connection with cell-wall formation.
Certain species of plants, notably many legumes, require such large amounts of calcium salts for their growth as to give to them the popular appellation of "lime-loving plants." Other plants, known as "calciphiles," while not actually showing abnormally large percentages of calcium in their ash, flourish best on soils rich in lime. On the other hand, certain other species, known as "calcifuges," will not grow on soils which are even moderately rich in lime ”

“ Milk gets its chief fame from calcium. Calcium may sound like a pretty dull mineral, but believe us, it’s worth its weight in gold. In fact, if you have plenty of calcium in your teeth, you won’t need so much gold. As for bones, they 17 are full of calcium, or should be. Milk also contains several vitamins and a dozen or so other minerals. ”

“ A crystalline amalgam is formed with mercury, which may be distilled in hydrogen at 400° C, but which forms nitride when heated in nitrogen. Heated to redness with potassium or sodium chloride, calcium sets the metal free. Water acts on calcium only very slowly, with the evolution of hydrogen. In liquefied ammonia at-40° C. calcium ammonia is formed—a reddish-brown solid. ”

“ Dr Parkes remarks of the amount of fat given in the above analysis “that it is evidently too low.”
In the above table we recognise in the albuminous and gelatinous substances the source of the muscular tissue of the human organism. The ash contains the chlorides, carbonates, and phosphates of potassium, sodium, and calcium. From these salts are derived the1039 hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice, the sodium of the bile, and the calcium phosphate and carbonate of the skeleton. Iron is also present, and this finds its way into the blood. ”

“ Iodine is treated with a small proportion of phosphorus in water, and is thus converted into ‘hydriodic acid,’ hydrate of calcium is then added, and the ‘iodide of calcium’ formed is first fused, and then decomposed by sulphate of potassium into ‘sulphate of calcium,’ which is precipitated, and ‘iodide of potassium,’ which remains in solution, and may be crystallised, as in the other processes. ”

“ These granules, interpreted as being composed of calcium, were found in the muscles of the limbs, of the tongue, and in the heart. It is reasonable to attribute their formation to an absorption of bone throughout the body. Similar calcium deposits were seen frequently in the adrenal glands, in their cortex, or at the border of the cortex and medulla. This lesion gains special interest in view of the calcium deposits described so frequently in connection with mercurial poisoning, more particularly as the symptoms of scurvy and of this toxic condition have marked clinical resemblances. ”

“ As mentioned, leafy vegetables not only supply calcium but sodium and chlorine,—two of the needed minerals of the body. If fresh vegetables and fruits along with foods rich in calcium, iron, and phosphorus are used, and these foods are cooked and served so as to retain all their nutriment, one can be assured that the diet contains all the necessary ash constituents. ”

“ In all of these solutions twitchings developed in the muscle. Magnesium and strontium act like calcium in inhibiting the muscular twitchings produced by sodium salts. These experiments led Loeb to the conclusion that the presence of [Pg 40] calcium in the body keeps the voluntary muscles from constantly twitching or beating rhythmically in the way the heart does. Calcium, magnesium, and strontium seemed to have a definite inhibitory action on the muscular contractions. ”

“ Chloride of Calcium.—To one part of water add two parts of muriatic acid, and add pieces of common chalk until effervescence ceases; then filter through cotton cloth and evaporate it by placing it in all earthen or porcelain dish, over a slow fire, to the consistency of a syrup. When cooling, large prismatic crystals of chloride of calcium are formed. These must be quickly dried by pressing between folds of blotting paper and kept carefully excluded from the air, as it readily attracts hydrogen. For most daguerreotype purposes, the syrup may be at once evaporated to dryness. ”

“ No other food has nearly as much. A pint has almost enough calcium for one entire day's supply. It takes 21⁄4 pounds of carrots to give the same amount, or 7 pounds of white bread or the impossible quantity of 21 pounds of beef! A diet without milk (or cheese) is in great danger of being too low in calcium, especially a meat-and-bread diet without vegetables.
Among the most necessary constituents of milk are the two vitamines. One is present chiefly in the fat and the other in the watery part of the milk. ”

“ The salivary, pancreatic, intestinal, lachrymal, and prostatic calculi are chiefly formed of calcareous salts. These salts also are an important, if not the chief, constituent of biliary and urinary calculi. In the former pigment, bile acids, and cholesterin may also be present. Urinary calculi are of still more varied composition, containing not only the calcium salts, as the oxalate, phosphate, and carbonate, but also uric acid and the urates of sodium and ammonium, in addition to the ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate. ”

“ Some of the mineral salts are more widely distributed in food than others, and the danger arising from their deficiency in the diet is not so great as is the case with others; hence attention is called to those found by investigators to be most often lacking or deficient in the average diet; i.e., calcium, phosphorus, and iron. ”

“ The whole of the calcium hydrate will now have dissolved. Fifty cubic28 centimeters of the clear liquid should now be withdrawn by a pipette, transferred to a flask, colored with an indicator—either phenol-phthalein, methyl-orange, or litmus may be used—and its alkalinity determined by running in decinormal hydrochloric or sulphuric acid from a burette till the change of color occurs. Each cubic centimeter of the acid corresponds to 0.0028 gramme of calcium oxide, or 0.0037 gramme of the hydrate, Ca (OH) 2. The amount by calculation will give the percentage of real lime present in the sample. ”