96 S/'lh'AL TW'/sr A.\l> OI'T. ACTH IT) 



SUMMARY 



1. In organisms which possess a spiral structure, as in 

 some bacteria, in snails, etc., one observes a larger num- 

 ber of "typical" individuals, that is, of individuals twist- 

 ed in one direction, while the "inverse" specimens are 

 rarer. 



2. The properties of protoplasm related to optical ac- 

 tivity are alike in dextral and sinistral forms. The same 

 natural amino acids have been isolated from either the 

 dextral or the sinistral snails {Fruticicola laiitzi). Both 

 dextral and sinistral bacteria {B. my cold es) grow better 

 on the natural than on the unnatural isomers of amino 

 acids. 



3. The "inverse" forms are physiologically weaker 

 than the "typical." When the culture temperatures are 

 varied from 20" to 36% the "inverse" bacteria present a 

 decreasing growth rate not observed in "typical" bacte- 

 ria; furthermore, the "inverse" forms show some enzy- 

 matic deficiencies. In the "inverse" snails the velocity 

 of catabolic loss and the mortality rate, on starvation, 

 exceed those of the "typical" individuals. 



4. It is suggested that some secondary substances which 

 may determine the morphological inversion are optically 

 inverted, or that some subsidiary process in metabolic 

 activities is changed in the nmtant snails and bacteria, 

 whereas the basic protoplasmic constituents are not. This 

 would explain ihv disturbance in the enzymatic coordi- 

 nation and the physiological weakness observed in the 

 inverted specimens. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



BOYCOTT, A., DIVER. C, HARDY. S. and TURNER. F.. Proc.Roy.8oc: 

 B.. !()'/. 152, 1929. 



BRUCKNER, V. and IVANOVICS, G., Z.physiol.Chem.. 2 ',7, 281, 1937. 



CASTLE, E.. Proc.Xat.AcSci.U.S.A.. 22. 336. 1936. 



CAUSE, G.F., Biol.BulL. Hi, 448, 1939. 



GAUSE, G.F. and SMARAGDOVA, N.P., Am. Naturalist. 7 ;. 1940. 



GERSBACH, A., Zbl.Bakt., Abt. I, .S,s, 97, 1922. 



HASTINGS, E. and SAGEN, H., J.Bact.. 2.), 39, 1933. 



