258 BIOLOGY OF PNEUMOCOCCUS 



sis than reported by Tillett, Goebel, and Avery who, it should be 

 remembered, prepared their material from rough pneumococci. An 

 analysis of the C Fraction showed that it contained 4 per cent of 

 phosphorus, which appeared to be firmly bound in organic combi- 

 nation, thus making the C Fraction the first phosphorus-contain- 

 ing specific polysaccharide to be encountered. 



RELATION OF THE PNEUMOCOCCAL CARBOHYDRATE TO CARBO- 

 HYDRATES ISOLATED FROM OTHER ORGANISMS 



In addition to the C Fraction, Heidelberger and Kendall iso- 

 lated from autolyzed cultures of Type IV Pneumococcus a type- 

 specific carbohydrate differing markedly from those of Type I, 

 II, and III pneumococci, and representing a kind of substance 

 hitherto not observed among specific polysaccharides. The authors 

 also obtained a chemically similar carbohydrate without specific 

 function. These substances were far more difficult to separate from 

 accompanying protein degradation products than the specific 

 polysaccharides of Type I, II, and III pneumococci. Because of 

 the difficulty of separation, the preparations probably contained 

 more or less of the accompanying specific carbohydrates, but were 

 in sufficiently pure state to reveal separate identities. 



The serologically inactive fraction had the lowest optical rota- 

 tion and the highest carbon content of the three, was the weakest 

 acid, the least soluble in alcohol or acetic acid, and differed from 

 the specific Type IV carbohydrate and the C Fraction in yielding 

 on hydrolysis crystals with the optical rotation of glucosamine. 

 The Type IV specific substance, on the other hand, differed from 

 the others in being the poorest in nitrogen and the richest in re- 

 ducing sugars on hydrolysis, and in occupying an intermediate 

 position as regards optical rotation, carbon content, and acidity. 

 The species-specific C polysaccharide was highest in optical rota- 

 tion and in total and amino nitrogen, and the poorest in reducing 

 sugars yielded on hydrolysis, in carbon content, and in its propor- 



