168 AEROBIC FERMENTATIONS 



this energy is wasted and is not connected directly with 

 any physiological function. 



Kriiger (1937) assumes that the aerobic processes in 

 Ascaris are similar to those in any free-living animal, 

 while according to Harnisch (1937a), as was said above, 

 they would correspond only to the post-anaerobic proc- 

 esses of the latter. Harnisch, in his later work, gives two 

 new reasons for thus placing in a special class the aero- 

 bic processes in helminths and abandons his previous 

 line of reasoning. First, he points out the fact that the 

 dependency of the oxygen consumption of parasitic 

 worms (and the post-anaerobic oxygen consumption 

 of free-living animals) on the oxygen tension cannot be 

 eliminated by mincing the material, which is equivalent 

 to lessening the distance through which the oxygen would 

 normally have to diffuse before reaching the inner cells. 

 This is in marked contrast with the data on normal oxy- 

 gen consumption of many free-living animals, in which, 

 as was pointed out previously, a shortening of the diffu- 

 sion distance reduces the influence of the oxygen ten- 

 sion to a considerable degree. Secondly, Harnisch show- 

 ed that both the post-anaerobic excess oxygen consump- 

 tion of free-living animals and the entire oxygen con- 

 sumption of parasitic worms are regulated by enzyme 

 complexes which apparently have another location than 

 those responsible for the normal oxygen consumption 

 of free-living animals. When the latter were carefully 

 minced and the cellular suspension washed, the oxygen 

 consumption remained, within reasonable limits of error, 

 the same as it was after mincing, but before washing. 

 This is interpreted as indicating that the enzymes re- 

 sponsible for this type of oxygen consumption ( Har- 

 nisch 's primary aerobic processes) are located within 

 the cells and as showing that the procedure used did 

 not break up the cells to such an extent as to allow the 

 removal of the enzymes by washing. If, on the con- 



