DISSOCIATION AND TRANSFORMATION 151 



changed respiratory capacities of pneumococcal variants. Accord- 

 ing to Finkle's 440 measurements, the capacities of organisms of 

 Types I and II were altered during conversion from the S to the R 

 form. For Type I Pneumococcus it was increased 110 per cent, 

 while for Type III it was diminished by 45 per cent. In the case of 

 Type II there occurred a diminution of only 16 per cent in re- 

 spiratory activity. At the same time, anaerobic glycolysis was in- 

 creased on the average 25 per cent each for all R forms irrespec- 

 tive of type derivation, while Type I Pneumococcus, on being 

 converted to the R form, lost its capacity for aerobic glycolysis. 

 Pneumococcus III in passing to the degraded stage gained this 

 activity, which is in accordance with the respective increase and 

 decrease in respiratory activity of the two types. In order to ap- 

 preciate the degree of the respiratory capacity of pneumococci, 

 Finkle stated that the 2 consumption was for Type I pneumo- 

 cocci thirteen times and for Type II strains thirty-four times that 

 of the human tubercle bacillus (strain H 37 ). When compared with 

 the oxygen consumption of animal tissues, Type II strains con- 

 sumed over twenty times as much oxygen as did isolated rat kid- 

 ney tissue, and almost one hundred times as much 2 as isolated 

 dog muscle. 



A respiratory phenomenon connected with loss of virulence has 

 been described by Sevag and Maiweg. 1258 A virulent pneumococcus 

 on being transformed into its avirulent form consumes many times 

 more oxygen than the parent organism, but the gain of activity is 

 a temporary property. After a time, the avirulent variant degener- 

 ates into a form that consumes much less oxygen than either the 

 virulent or the recently derived avirulent form. The phenomenon 

 may be associated with the change in the structure of the enzyme 

 responsible for carbohydrate biosynthesis during the shift from 

 the virulent to the avirulent state and hence may be related to cap- 

 sule formation. According to Sevag and Maiweg, the addition of 

 colorless, clear, blood catalase or of a small amount of sodium 

 pyruvate to the culture enables the organisms to carry on their 



