CRYSTALLINE STYLE OF LAMELLIBRANCHS 95 



rapid washing in distilled water, was placed in a vial with a small 

 quantity of the mollusc's blood. A few drops of the glycerine 

 and twenty drops of a 0.5 per cent starch solution were added and 

 the vial placed at 32°C. At the same time a control containing 

 blood and starch was also put in the incubator. The object of put- 

 ting the tissue in the blood was to give the cells a chance to secrete a 

 small amount of enzyme while bathed in fluid approximating that 

 of the body. After twenty-two hours the control still showed 

 the presence of starch, while in the vial containing the tissue all 

 of the starch had been converted. It is evident, therefore, that 

 the enzyme found in the style is secreted by the typhlosoles, and 

 not by the hepatopancreas as was held by Mitra. 



Apparently the molluscs which I have studied have no extra- 

 cellular lipase. Van Rynberk ('08) could demonstrate no action 

 upon fat, and I have found in the alimentary mass in the stom- 

 ach of Anodonta great numbers of fat globules, as shown by their 

 staining reaction with Sudan III. It is probable, furthermore, 

 from the researches of Gutheil ('11) and the recent work of 

 Churchill ('16), that fat is absorbed as such by the cells, and by 

 phagocytes, there to undergo decomposition into fatty acid and 

 glycerine. 



The only addition which I have made to the chemical analysis 

 of Lambling is the determination of the total and water-soluble 

 nitrogen in the style. 



Ten styles of Lampsilis were washed rapidly in distilled water, 

 drained on filter paper, and weighed. Two cc. of distilled water 

 were added and, when the styles had dissolved, 2 cc. of a mix- 

 ture of tannic and hydrochloric acids were added to precipitate 

 the protein matter. The precipitate was filtered off through a 

 small, dry, nitrogen-free filter paper, and the filtrate analyzed 

 for the water soluble nitrogen. The residue on the filter was 

 washed free of all traces of the filtrate, and, with the filter paper, 

 was digested in boiling cone. H2SO4, and the amount of nitrogen 

 determined by the micro-Kjeldahl method. The results of this 

 experiment follow: 



