452 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Experiniciits Avere condnctol on tlic iVrnu'iitation <>i tea umlcr iiMcptic conditions, 

 which resulted in tlie discovery that tlie addition of a small (juantity of salicylic acid 

 to the fermenting tea leaves, hy excluding foreign organisms, ])roduced an improved 

 (juality of tea. 



Some notes on proteolytic enzyms associated, vrith. rennet in plants, M. 

 Javilliek {f'omjjt. Rend. Acad. ,Sri. Paris, Lit; {lUO.i), JVo. 17, pp. 10 J 3-1015). —In a 

 ])revious jjublication (E. S. R., 14, p. 549) tlie author has shown the presence of 

 rennet or an analogous substance in certain plants, and in the present ctjmmunica- 

 tion an account is given of certain proteolytic ferments which were found associated 

 with the rennet in his studies on plants. 



In experimenting with the expressed juice of darnel under aseptic conditions it 

 was found that the coagulunrformed hy the rennet was gradually dissolved and in 

 it« place was formed a semitransparent liquid, upon the surface of which floated 

 globules of milk fat. This substance was not j)recii)itated by acids, and gave, in gen- 

 eral, the reaction of peptones. The diastase which has been fotnid in a large nundter 

 of plants is a casease comparable with that previously described as occurring in li(jnid 

 cultures of Tyrothrix. The })lant juice of darnel contains a gelatinase which liquifies 

 gelatin, but does not coagulate egg albumen nor fibrin. 



In these experiments the author has shown that certain of the higher- plants pos- 

 sess ferments similar to those discovered in experiments with bacteria, yeasts, molds, 

 etc., and that the casease and gelatinase present in the plants studied are quite simi- 

 lar, if not identical. The diastatic precipitate separated from the darnel was found 

 after a few days to dissolve peptone in a way (]uite similar to that of the diastase 

 occurring in tlie mucus membrane of the intestinal canal of certain mammals. 



A study of the proteolytic enzyms of malt, F. Weis {Compt. Tteud. Trav. Lab. 

 C'arlshcrg, r, {1903), No. 3, pp. 133-385, ph. 17). — After giving a historical resume of 

 the study of proteolytic enzyms and their presence in various plants, the author 

 describes the methods of his investigations on the proteolytic enzyms of malt. As a 

 result of his experiments he states that an aqueous solution of fresh malt was found 

 to contain marked proteolytic properties, as is shown by the self-digestion of the 

 malt and liy the splitting up of alTiuminoid materials which may be added to the 

 solution. 



By means of precipitations with tin chlorid and tannic acid 2 phases were recog- 

 nized in the proteolysis of protein separated from wheat, one a hydrolytic phase 

 resulting in the formation of albumoses, the other a tryptic phase producing non- 

 proteid crystalline compounds. These 2 phases are supposed to be caused by separate 

 enzyms, peptase and tryptase. The action of various elements, such as temperature, 

 moisture, acids, alkalis, etc., on these enzyms is shown, as well as the physical and 

 chemical ])roperties of each. 



In the unsprouted barley grain the author was unable to demonstrate the presence 

 of these ferments, but on the fourth day of germination tliey appeared (juite abundant 

 and increased to a maximum production in 10 days. There appeared to lie jiroenzyms 

 present in the unsprouted grain which at the ]>roper temjierature were rendered <]uite 

 active upon the addition of very dilute acetic acid. 



Investigations on the two kinds of catalase, (). Loew {Centhl. Halt. v. Far., 

 2. Alt., 10 {1903), No. G, pp. 177-179). — In the previous investigations of the author 

 2 forms of catalase were recognized, one of which is insoluble and the other a slightly 

 soluble form. The insoluble form lias been held to be a chemical combination of 

 the soluble form with some nucleo-proteids. Criticisms having been made against 

 this statement, the author has reviewed his experiments, arriving again at practically 

 the same conclusion. 



Tlie catalytic decomposition of hydrog-en peroxid, and nature and func- 

 tion of catalase, A. S. Loevenhart and J. H. Kastle {Amer. ('hem. Jour., 29 

 {1903), Nofi. 5, pp. 397-437, fig. 1; 6, pp. 563-588). — According to the authors it has 



