14 



alkaline at one end and acid at the other end, and if divi- 

 sion occurs, each of the fragments will have a similar 

 polarity. Assimilation of amino acid residues probably 

 occurs at the hydrophilic carboxyl ends, but as these may 

 be located elsewhere than on the periphery of the cell, 

 the problem presents itself of getting the necessary food 

 material to them, especially when the food material is 

 not soluble in the surrounding medium. This difficulty is 

 overcome by the liberation of small fragments or "en- 

 zymes ' ' from the living cell, which will be free to migrate 

 out to the food material and make their attack upon it, 

 setting free the amino acids. There seems to be no rea- 

 son for assuming that these amino acids are actually 

 transported by the enzymes into the living cells. In 

 fact, the ability of minute traces of proteolytic enzymes 

 to digest almost unlimited quantities of dead protein 

 material seems to indicate that these enzymes do not 

 remain attached for any length of time to the fragments 

 which they dislodge. Neither does there seem to be any 

 basis for the recent suggestion that enzymes act as or- 

 ganizers for the intracellular proteins. Such a hypo- 

 thesis merely substitutes a greater difficulty for the lesser 

 one. As explained by the writer in his 1927 monograph 

 Spiral Molecular Structures, the Basis of Life, yro- 

 teins are so constituted that they act as their own or- 

 ganisers. 



If proteolytic enzymes are broken-off portions from 

 living cells, then they should have an acid-alkaline polar- 

 ity and a cross-sectional pattern similar to that of the 

 intracellular proteins from which they were derived. If 

 the proteins of the food material have a similar pattern, 

 or one which will permit sufficiently close approach of the 

 enzyme molecules, then a temporary union of the enzyme 

 with the dead food material may be assumed to take 

 place, followed by dislodgement of some of the amino 

 acid residues. Chemically active side-chains are parts 



