232 IV. THE PRINCIPLES OF LIFE PHENOMENA 



fluence of the pattern of protein present in larger amount is greater 

 in the establishment of the equilibrium. It has already been stated 

 that a weak virus cannot exert its structural influence when present 

 in a small amount, but can do so if present abundantly. This is the 

 "dosis effect" recognizable in many other cases as detailed in Part II. 



Again, according to Zoet (6), the antiserum against a heated 

 mixture of horse and pig serum can react markedly with this mixture, 

 but scarcely with a mixture of the two sera heated separately. 

 McFarlane (7) stated that one protein in a mixture even can effect the 

 molecular size of another. 



It is well acknowledged that apparently similar serum-albumins 

 from different animals exhibit markedly different antigenicities, 

 whereas there is not so distinct immunological difference between two 

 distinct proteins, /. e., serum-globulin and serum-albumin, if they are 

 separated from the same animal, showing that proteins isolated from 

 one and the same biological system cannot reveal immunological pat- 

 terns so different as do those derived from different systems, although 

 each protein may be able to recover its own pattern when separated 

 from the system. It should be remembered in this connection that 

 only substances with structural patterns almost similar can make a 

 mixed crystal. 



Various substances in protoplasm must be present in such a 

 system of equilibrium. The main component element of the system 

 may be the elementary bodies composed of globulin and lipids. These 

 bodies may be fused into mixed crystal, exerting mutually structural 

 influences to form a definite pattern specific to the protoplasm. When 

 exist in the protoplasm they may be compelled to take this definite 

 pattern, but if liberated from it, some bodies. may change the pattern 

 according to their own peculiar structure, for all the bodies constitu- 

 ting a cell cannot be identical in their chemical compositions. Bodies 

 with high contents of nucleic acid may retain the pattern specific 

 to the protoplasm, even when the particles with little or no nucleic 

 acid undergo a change, since the former bodies cannot be altered in 

 their structures on account of the presene of nucleic acid. Moreover, 

 such bodies can act as strong assimilases for the same reason, and 

 hence behave as viruses. 



The same may occur when the bodies are present in protoplasm. 

 Thus, when a stimulus is given to cell, most elementary bodies in it 

 would change the structure in accordance with the stimulus, but not 

 the bodies with high contents of nucleic acid, which, therefore, when 

 the stimulus is removed, can bring back the other changed bodies 

 to the original state by their strong assimilase action. The bodies 

 thus capable of maintaing the original pattern of the protoplasm may 



