ENZYMES OF THE TUBERCLE BACILLUS 131 



bacilli. Proteolytic enzymes were also not found in tubercu- 

 lous pus free from other organisms. Opie and Barker (1908) 

 had earlier observed that tuberculous tissues in the early stages 

 contained a proteolytic enzyme acting in neutral and weakly 

 acid solution. With the advance of caseation the one acting 

 in alkaline solution disappears while the other (lympho-protease) 

 is retained. After complete caseation the latter also disappears. 

 No enzymes were demonstrable in tuberculous exudates in 

 human beings (Opie and Barker, 1909). 



Gosio (1905) using the tellurite and selenite reduction test 

 devised by him was able to demonstrate reductases in all the 

 bacteria tested including the various tubercle bacilli: avian, 

 bovine and human. He examined 173 microorganisms and 

 divided them into three classes, dependent upon the reaction 

 obtained: (1) a decided reaction, (2) a less intense, but fully 

 evident reaction (in this class he included a bovine, a human 

 and an avian tubercle bacillus and a so-called pseudo-tubercle- 

 bacillus (Rabinowitsch) ), (3) a very slight reaction. 

 ' Wells and Corper (1912) studying the lipase of B. tuberculosis 

 and other bacteria noted that toluene would kill the tubercle 

 bacillus but did not destroy the lipases, and that lipolytic enzymes 

 are present with different activites in the organisms tested 

 {B. dysenteriae, Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, B. pyocyaneus, 

 B. coll and B. tuberculosis). Of these the tubercle bacillus was 

 least actively lipolytic. They also noted that the ''auxano- 

 graphic" method was not suitable for use in studying the 

 enzymes of the tubercle bacillus. 



Kendall, Day and Walker (1914c) verified and elaborated 

 these findings noting that various strains of the human tubercle 

 bacillus, the bovine and avian bacilli as well as the leprosy, 

 smegma and grass bacilli, form lipase during their growth on 

 glycerin broth. This lipase is present in the medium free from 

 bacteria. The bodies (Kendall, Day and Walker, 1914d) of 

 acid fast bacteria grown in nutrient broth, with glucose, man- 

 nite and glycerin as additional sources of carbon, freed from 

 adherent media, also contained a lipase not as active or as great 

 in amount as that in the culture media. The authors were 



