42 FATS, OILS, AND WAXES 



Le Clerc du Sablon has put forward the idea that there 

 might be present an enzyme which acts on the fat without 

 liberating the glycerol. 



These views are concerned chiefly with the formation of 

 carbohydrates from fats ; a reversal of the process might or 

 might not explain the formation of fats from carbohydrates. 



The whole question is of considerable difficulty and refuge 

 may be taken in the hypothesis first put forward by Nageli 

 that the fats are products of the disintegration of the proto- 

 plasm. Thus the carbohydrates might be assimilated by the 

 protoplasm which might produce the oil by some catabolic 

 process. 



With regard to the possible formation of fats from proteins 

 very little information is available. On the animal side there 

 is some evidence to show that substances derived from pro- 

 teins may be so utilized ; a possible connection may be found 

 in the phospholipines (phosphatides) which are compounds of 

 fatty acids containing either nitrogen or phosphorus, or both. 



Leathes * points out that the fatty acid may be formed 

 from glucose by processes analogous to the synthesis of butyric 

 acid from lactic acid which in turn is formed from the glucose. 

 For the underlying reasons, which are rather too complicated 

 to be dealt with here, Leathes' monograph must be consulted. 

 It may, however, be pointed out in this connection that the 

 investigations of Hanriot are very significant ; he found that, 

 in attempting the oxidation of fat in vitro, 15 per cent of its 

 weight of oxygen was absorbed, and in the products of its 

 oxidation butyric and acetic acids occurred, but no carbo- 

 hydrate. 



In conclusion brief mention may be made of Schmidt's 

 views regarding the translocation of fats. He considers that 

 in many cases the oil may be transported as such to those 

 organs requiring it, for he found that the amount of fatty acid 

 present in the germinating seeds was smaller than would be 

 supposed if it were hydrolysed before translocation, also that 

 neutral oil appears in regions of the plant removed from the 

 storage organ. 



* Leathes : " The Fats," London, 1926. 



