1916] 
ZELLER—PHYSIOLOGY OF LENZITES SAEPIARIA 461 
ec. of a 1 per cent solution of raffinose were added 2 ce. of 
enzyme dispersion and toluol as an antiseptic. Controls were 
prepared as in previous experiments. After 48 hours Feh- 
ling’s solution was strongly reduced in all but the controls. 
This was true both for the enzyme preparations from the 
mycelium and the sporophores. This gives evidence of the 
presence of raffinase in L. saepiaria. 
Dox (710) has reviewed the literature as to the occurrence 
of this ferment in Aspergillus and Penicillium. He found that 
mould powder of Penicillium Camemberti hydrolyzed raf- 
finose, and that varying the source of carbon in the substrate 
exerted an influence on the amount of raffinase produced. A 
significant fact brought out is that lactose and sucrose yielded 
a larger quantity of raffinase than did other carbohydrates, 
and these two disaccharides, it is to be noted, contain two of 
the hexoses found in raffinose; that is, lactose on hydroly- 
sis yields galactose and dextrose, and sucrose yields dextrose 
and levulose. | 
The presence of raffinase in higher fungi has not been 
demonstrated before, as far as the author is aware. 
EMULSIN 
The presence in plants of an enzyme capable of decom- 
posing glucosides has been known since 1837, and emulsin 
was discovered in fungi in 1893 by Bourquelot, who found it 
in Aspergillus niger, and by Gerard, who found it in Pen- 
icillium glaucum. Bourquelot (94) was able to detect emulsin 
in many of the higher fungi found on wood. Among those 
tested, 34 species (mostly Basidiomycetes) showed the pres- 
ence of emulsin, and 9 did not. None of the 9 were found on 
wood. It is probable that in the destruction of wood, whether 
frondose or coniferous, glucosides are set free. Among 
these are salicin, populin, arbutin, and amygdalin from fron- 
dose woods, and principally coniferin from the conifers. Be- 
fore these are available as nutrients for the attacking fungus 
they must be acted on by emulsin, which splits the glucoside, 
yielding glucose which is directly assimilable. 
