40 Literature on Inosite-Phosphoric Acid [Sept. 



pliosphorus Compounds and of inosite in the several stages of plant 

 development. Since the methods of differentiating between the 

 various combinations of phosphorus in plant substances are becom- 

 ing highly perfected, we may expect rapid developments in our 

 knowledge of their functions in plant processes. The universal 

 presence of phytin in propagating and growing parts must be highly 

 significant. This constant occurrence led Starkenstein to assume 

 that "phytin" plays a specific role in the mechanism of growth of 

 both plants and animals. If this be so, its biochemical reactions 

 must be closely linked with carbohydrate and protein formation, 

 and its occurrence with these substances in the aleuron grain must 

 be more than a mere coincidence. 



In this connection it may be well to review briefly the literature 

 regarding the aleuron grains. The best summary was found in 

 Vines's text book of plant physiology (1886) but this is too brief 

 to be satisfactory. From Pfeffer's comprehensive description, it 

 appears that these grains form in the vacuoles during the ripening 

 and desiccation of the seed; that the forms assumed are globular, 

 which are less distorted and attain a larger size in the more fatty 

 seeds. They consist morphologically of three parts: the large pro- 

 tein particle, Pfeffer's globoid, and a membrane. Crystals of cal- 

 cium Oxalate are sometimes present. Weyl^'^ isolated the grains from 

 the " Paranuss " employing the method of all the previous inves- 

 tigators, and made an extensive study of their proteins. This was 

 in the days of the vegetable vitellins (globulins), and the chief protein 

 of the aleuron grain having been shown to belong to this group, 

 Weyl thought that the membrane was a modified form of the same 

 protein, an albuminate. Three or four years later, Vines^^ under- 

 took a study of these proteins and from his observations on mate- 

 rial from a large variety of seeds, grouped them into five classes: 

 vegetable peptone (water soluble), vegetable myosin, crystalloid, 

 vit ellin (all three soluble in sodium chlorid Solution), albuminate 

 (soluble in sodium carbonate Solution). These are described as 

 plastic proteins, in part transported to the cells of the seed from 

 other portions of the plant. According to Posternak, these pro- 



^ Weyl : Zeit, für physiol. Chem., 1S77, i, 84-96. 



"Vines: Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 28, 218; 30, 387; 31, 59, 62; see also 

 Lundtke : Jahrb. wiss. Bot., 1890, 21, 62. 



