1916] 
ZELLER—PHYSIOLOGY OF LENZITES SAEPIARIA 459 
as for maltase, except that a 1 per cent solution of lactose 
was used for a substrate. There was no indication of the ` 
presence of lactase either in the mycelium or the sporophores. 
INVERTASE 
Although invertase has been repeatedly demonstrated in 
lower fungi, especially yeasts, Aspergillus and Penicillium, its 
presence has seldom been noted in the higher forms. Bayliss 
(708) found it in the sporophores of Polystictus versicolor, 
and it is undoubtedly present both in the mycelium and sporo- 
phores of L. saepiaria. 
To demonstrate the presence of invertase a 1 per cent solu- 
tion of sucrose was used as a substrate. To 10-сс. portions 
of this were added 2 сс. of the enzyme dispersions, enzyme 
dispersions autoclaved, and 2 cc. of distilled water, as in the 
maltase experiments. After 4 hours there was distinct reduc- 
tion of copper oxide from Fehling’s solution in the regular 
tubes, but the autoclaved controls and the water controls 
showed none. This was perhaps more evident in the sporo- 
phoral dispersion. 
Having demonstrated the presence of invertase both in the 
mycelium and sporophores, some quantitative studies were 
made. The fungus was successfully grown upon a substrate 
of carrot juice. The carrot juice cultures were made in Erlen- 
meyer flasks and inoculated with oidia from cultures grown 
on pine sawdust. The oidia were dispersed in sterile, distilled 
water-blanks from which the inoculations were made. After 
2 weeks of growth the mats of mycelium were removed from 
the flasks and dried on filter paper at a temperature of about 
35°C. This dried mycelium was ground to a fine powder in 
a mill and kept dry in a glass-stoppered bottle. 'This same 
powder was used for quantitative determinations of diastatie 
aetion reported later in this paper. 
The experiments were conducted as follows: To 50 cc. of 
a 1 per cent sucrose solution 2 grams of fungous powder were 
added, with about 1 per cent toluol as an antiseptic. As а 
control on this, other experiments were prepared in the same 
way after the fungous powder had been autoclaved to kill the 
