E. NEWTON HARVEY 145 



in absolute alcohol but not in ether or benzene, and is undigested by 

 salivary diastase, pepsin HCl, Merck's pancreatin in neutral solution, 

 and erepsin. The salivary diastase and the pancreatin (containing 

 amylopsin, trypsin, and lipase) were allowed to digest for 4 days at 

 38°C. without showing any evidence of digestive action. Oxyfuci- 

 ferin is partially but not completely precipitated by basic lead acetate 

 and tannic acid. 



As luciferin is so easily oxidizable a substance, we should expect to 

 find that it will reduce just as glucose will reduce. However, a con- 

 centrated solution of luciferin has no reducing action on Fehling's 

 (alkaline Cu), Barfoed's (acid Cu), Nylander's (alkaline Bi), or 

 Knapp's (alkaline Hg) reagent. Glucose will reduce methylene blue 

 in alkaline (not in neutral) solution but luciferin will not reduce 

 methylene blue in alkaline or neutral solution. It would seem, then, 

 that luciferin must contain no aldehyde group. If so, we should ex- 

 pect to obtain reduction of some of the above reagents. Just what 

 group is concerned in the oxidation is unknown at the present time and 

 speculation regarding it in the absence of more experimental data can 

 be of little value. 



