VELOCITY OF REACTIONS 47 



applicability of Schutz's rule and of the ^/-law. In 

 this case the fat is suspended in the form of drops in 

 the liquid. Also, according to Sjoqvist's investiga- 

 tion, the digestion of coagulated egg-albumen [i.e. 

 in a solid form) obeys the same laws. 



In general we find that the generalization of 

 Schutz's rule and the qt-\a.vt are valid for a large 

 number of processes which are of importance for 

 animal life, such as the action of stomachical or 

 pancreatic juice on albuminous substances or on 

 fats. 



Even for digestion " in vitro" the simple mono- 

 molecular formula is sometimes found to hold good, 

 just as strong bases such as sodium hydrate follow 

 this law when saponifying a great excess of ester. 

 Thus, for instance, Euler found this to be the 

 case in the digestion of glycyl-glycine by means 

 of erepsin, an enzyme from the intestinal mucous 

 membrane. The same is true for the saponification 

 of triacetate of glycerol by means of powdered 

 castor-beans, whereas higher fats under similar 

 conditions are subject to Schutz's rule. 



In order to illustrate this regularity we give 

 some figures of Euler. The first table refers to 

 the katalytic action of a " katalase " contained in 

 the juice of the mushroom Boletus scaber on the 

 decomposition of hydrogen peroxide at I5°C. The 

 quantity q of hydrogen peroxide present in a 

 solution containing 3 cc. of the mushroom juice 

 in 200 cc. was determined at different times (t in 

 minutes) by means of titration with permanganate. 



