Oxidation-Reduction Potentials

FOLLOWING on hydrogen ion concentration, the subject of oxidation-reduction potentials has opened up a new field of investigation into the character of the media in which organisms flourish. Dr. L. F. Hewitt, in his “Oxidation-Reduction Potentials in Bacteriology and Biochemistry” (L.C.C., third edition, 1935), gives a very clear presentation of the theory as well as an account of the methods of measurement. The mechanisms underlying the action of respiratory pigments as well as the characteristics of certain bacterial culture media have been very profitably examined by this technique. A good deal of information has been derived from following the oxidation-reduction potential of the medium during the actual growth of the bacteria, and the findings have been supported by other methods of investigation. As a test method for defining the optimum conditions for growth, its further possibilities may be substantial. This little book will prove of great service to bacteriologists and biologists generally.