AGRICULTURAL CHEIMISTRY AGROTECHNY. 411 



more vigorous fermentative orgauism than Peaicillium sp. The fermentation 

 was found to be more rapid in the gall nut infusion than in the synthetic solu- 

 tion in which tannic acid was the only source of carbon. The presence of other 

 organic compounds in the gall nut infusion protected to a certain extent the 

 gallic acid. The addition of 5 per cent sugar did not protect the gallic acid, 

 but simply increased the growth. The addition of 10 per cent sugar protected 

 the gallic acid entirely. When gallic acid and cane sugar to the extent of 5.5 

 \}ev cent and 10 per cent, respectively, were offered together, the cane sugar was 

 elected and the gallic acid left in the culture solution. Fermentation can take 

 place under anaerobic conditions, and 1 mg. of mycelium is sufficient to effect 

 the transformation of 2.706 gm. of tannic acid in 10 days. In an approximately 

 15 per cent solution of tannic acid, fermentation was most rapid when the tannic 

 acid alone served as the source of carbon, and when aerobic conditions were 

 maintained ; yet the method of fermentation is wasteful from the standpoint of 

 an economical yield of gallic acid." 



See also a previous note (E. S. R., 26, p. 203). 



Tannic acid fermentation. — II, Effect of nutrition on the production of 

 the enzym tannase, L. Knudson {Jour. Biol. Chem., H {191S), No. 3, pp. 185- 

 202). — Previously noted from another source (E. S. R., 27, p. 408). 



A preliminary study of the biochemical activity of Bacillus lactis eryth- 

 rogenes, M. Louise Foster {Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 85 {1913), No. 5, pp. 

 597-600). — In addition to the work previously reported (E. S. R., 20, p. 775), it 

 is shown " that the action of B. lactis erythrogenes on milk is progressively cata- 

 bolic; the native proteins are split with the ultimate formation of monoamine 

 and diamino acids. This proteolytic change may be caused by an enzym. A 

 soluble ferment which was precipitated with alcohol split the carbohydrate with 

 the production of formic and acetic acids. This would seem to indicate the 

 presence of an intracellular enzym which has been set free by the alcohol wheu 

 it has destroyed the organism. Accompanying these changes is the production 

 of a pigment which causes a coloration varying from red to dull brown, accord- 

 ing to the strain. This pigment can be extracted with amyl alcohol and is 

 extracellular, for it is contingent upon the life of the organism." 



A reinvestig-ation of the velocity of sugar hydrolysis. — II, The role of 

 water, M. A. Rosanoff and H. M. Potter {Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc., 35 {1913), 

 No. S, pp. 248-258). — In a former communication" it was shown that sugar 

 hydrolysis is strictly unimolecular with respect to the sugar itself. In the 

 present contribution it is stated that " water plays a double role in the reaction. 

 On the one hand it takes part in the reaction and contributes to its velocity 

 according to the law of mass action ; on the other hand it acts as a negative 

 catalyzer by its dissociating power. With respect to this retarding effect, the 

 reaction is shown to follow a catalysis principle which is also obeyed by several 

 other reactions investigated within the past few years." 



The development of fat in the black walnut (Juglans nigra), II, F. M. 

 McClenahan {Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 35 {1913), No. 4, pp. 485-493, fig. 1).— 

 This is a continuation of the investigations previously noted (E. S. R., 21, p. 

 628) and includes a preliminary study of the relation of potassium and phos- 

 phorus to the fat and lipoids as they occur in developing the seed coat and 

 ovule of the walnut. The curve of the development of the fats in the ovule 

 of the black walnut is only complementary to the water-soluble portion of the 

 hot alcohol-ether extract. 



" The earliest histoiy of the ovule would indicate a great preponderance of 

 phosphatids over fats, which may be noted by an inspection of the backward 



•Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 33 (1911), No. 12, pp. 1911-1924, fig. 1. 



