1916] 
ZELLER—PHYSIOLOGY OF LENZITES SAEPIARIA 453 
presence of eight enzymes. Reed (?13) grew Glomerella 
rufomaculans in cultures of nutrient solutions, and from the 
dried fungous mat was prepared a fine, enzyme-containing 
meal which was tested on various substrates. 
The few papers mentioned are the main ones dealing en- 
tirely with enzyme activity in fungi which attack wood. Many 
other investigators have inferred a priori that many enzymes, 
especially cytolytic, are active agents in the metabolism of 
this group of fungi, and scattering references of this sort are 
numerous. It is of interest to observe that although we have 
every indication to direct us to believe that cytases are present 
in wood-destroying fungi, yet their presence has been demon- 
strated only indirectly, i.e., by histological methods. This may 
be due to the fact, as will be pointed out later, that a majority 
of the investigators who found no wood-destroying ferment 
used the fruiting bodies in their experiments instead of the 
active, vegetative mycelium. More detailed discussions of the 
results of these various investigators will be given below in 
connection with the various groups of enzymes considered in 
this paper. 
In view of the status of our knowledge of the enzymes con- 
cerned in the destruction of wood, I undertook an investiga- 
tion to compare in a qualitative way the enzymes of the 
mycelium and sporophores of Lenzites saepiaria. In certain 
cases only have quantitative results been obtained. 
METHOD OF GROWING MYCELIUM FOR EXTRACTION 
Sawdust of Pinus palustris, P. echinata, and P. Taeda was 
placed in flasks of 1000 and 500 ce. capacity. The sawdust 
was moistened with distilled water, after which the flasks were 
plugged and sterilized in the autoclave at 20 pounds pressure 
for 45 minutes. After cooling, the sawdust was inoculated 
with the mycelium from agar slants. As the mycelium grew 
into the sawdust there was a darkening of the wood similar 
to that noticed in the ‘‘rot’’ produced in nature by this fungus. 
In the course of time the sawdust became a dark brown color. 
After about 7 months some of the flasks were emptied, and 
the sawdust with the mycelium was dried by means of an 
