489 

 from that in which the aiuount of eiizviiie in the iiiyceliuiii was 



2 Sr» II in» »}« J0J»ST««4Ï II " «• »5 II f» •» »J wo »r n* W lU ISJ Itó l*9. 



Fig. 2. 



determined. To this must be ascribed the fact that such cases occui- 

 as that after 79 daj's, wliere in the fungns pins fluid an average 

 of 3.45 enzyme occurs, but in tlie fluid alone 4.56, i. e. more. 

 This is of course absnid, and if its own culture-fluid could liave 

 been used, such figures would not have resulted. Nevertheless I have 

 included these tigures and represented them in figure 2, in order to 

 show the general course of the presence of diastase in the fungus- 

 mass itself. It is evident that this curve is, generally speaking, 

 exactly identical with that of figure J . This is easily understood when 

 it is seen from the figures of column V that in general the cul- 

 ture-fluid contains no very appreciable quantity of enzyme; if is 

 only when much enzyme is present in the mycelium, that a quantity 

 can be found in the surrounding fluid, which is not inconsiderable. 

 How it is that the enzyme occurs there, must be left an open 

 question. It might be thought to have arisen from cells already dead, 

 but on the other hand a somewhat greater quantity is only found 

 in very young mycelia. 



The enzyme found in the culture-fluid can therefore be left without 

 further consideration in order that attention may he concentrated 

 on the diastase which is found within the mycelium of the fungus. 

 From all the tables and also from figures 1 and 2 it is quite evident 

 that after germination a considerable increase of enzyme is observable, 

 which very quickly reaches a maximum and afterwards shows an 

 almost equally rapid diminution. There will naturally be an inclination 

 to consider this increase in relation to the development of the 



