239 



912). It is always imperative to know on what days the maximum 

 weight was reached as it is the key to maximum development. 

 Pfeffer obviously did not think of this (l.c.page 257, note). He 

 only determmed the weights of the fungi between the 20' and 

 the 26 days. In this way his figures can not be compared wlth 

 each other, and his results must necessarily be of little value. 



In the following pages our chief interest will be the amount of 

 enzyme that is formed. To give a more vivid impression of my 

 results, I plotted most of them on squared paper and so obtained 

 a. number of instructive curves. In most cases 1 estimated the 

 values, found for the culture solution alone, to gîve a clear enough 

 impression of the production of diastase by the fungus; so 1 

 neglected the amount of enzyme in the mycélium. In some cases 

 I added both amounts to plot them into a curve. I found that the 

 main points in thèse curves were influenced only very slightly 

 by this procédure. 



The values I found do not seem to lend themselves readily to 

 graphical représentations. Although the daily oscillations are not 

 big enough to disturb the gênerai outline and scheme of the curves, 

 yet they are so great, that they disturb very much their regularity. 

 Many of thèse irregularities may be the results of errors of obser- 

 vation, others are due to individual différences of the cultures. 

 Especially cases, where only short times are needed for complète 

 bydrolysis are very troublesome to observe accurately. If for 

 example we find the times for complète hydrolj'sis expressed in 

 minutes to be: 6 — 6.5, 5 — 8 — 7.5, 5 — 6 — 8.5 etc. then the enzyme 

 values, corresponding to thèse figures are : 2500 — 2222 — 1 875 — 2 1 43 

 — 2000 — 1765. Thèse numbers wculd on a graph cause great 

 irregularities. Yet it is clear that we are dealing hère with values, 

 which are more or less of the same order. I feel justified therefore 

 to use a reducing factor which enables me to accentuate the essen- 

 tial différences of thèse values and at the same time cuts out acci- 

 dentai and unimportant variations. As a very convenient factor 

 I chose to take the loganthms of ail thèse numbers; instead of the 

 large ones given above, we then get the following séries: 3.38 — 3.35 



