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Crystalline lithocholic (3alpha-hydroxycholanic) acid was isolated from a pooled sample of feces from healthy men for the first time. This acid, which occurs in small amounts in human bile, was obtained by alcohol extraction, followed by solvent partition and chromatography. Under these conditions most of the acid was recovered in the form of its methyl ester.

The presence of stigmasterol in tomato fruits was demonstrated. Labeled mevalonic acid was incorporated into this sterol, while sodium acetate was not. The identity of the isolated product was established by rigorous purification to constant specific activity, melting point determinations, and infrared spectrum.

A single dose of mevalonic acid-2-(14)C was administered simultaneously to 6 Haplopappus heterophyllus plants. They were harvested at intervals ranging from 3 days to 6 months. Four groups of biosynthetically related sterols were found to be radioactive in each plant, and the changes in radioactivity with time were studied. The most striking finding was a radioactive phenolic material present only in the 6-month plant, which had flowered.