1918] 
BONNS—ETHERIZATION AND ENZYME ACTIVITY 245 
after a two days’ exposure, with an apparent return to normal 
fat content and a marked increase of sugar and ‘‘amide”’ 
nitrogen two days after removal from ether. Another series 
of experiments with young peas of high sugar content showed 
a marked gain in ‘‘amide’’ nitrogen content and in reduc- 
ing power of Fehling's solution, with a reduction in carbon 
dioxide evolution following a two days' exposure to ether; 
subsequent aération for two days showed an increase of the 
gas evolved, with a slight reduetion of sugar and nitrogen 
values; compared with the controls, the analysis after the 
aération showed a distinct increase of sugar and nitrogen 
products as a result of etherization. 
In connection with this work a comparison was made of 
the ‘‘ferment activity’’ of peas. Seeds freed from their in- 
teguments were crushed, dried in vacuo, and finely powdered, 
whereupon the amylolytie action of the powder upon a 
neutral starch solution (chloroform added as antiseptic) 
was noted after a period of incubation. The starch was 
precipitated with alcohol and the supernatant liquid, after 
filtration and evaporation of chloroform, was examined 
quantitatively for its reducing power on Fehling’s solution. 
No consideration was given in this series to the possible ef- 
fect of acid formation upon enzyme activity. According to 
the values obtained from controls, enzymic activity increased 
as the sugar content of the seeds decreased; etherization re- 
sulted in a marked increase of the values indicating accel- 
erated enzyme action. 
In still another experiment the extract obtained from 
crushed green peas after standing in water was compared 
with a similar extract heated at an early stage to inhibit 
enzyme action. Increased inversion values for sugar were 
notably lower in the control extract. Green peas etherized 
with varying dosages showed a distinct increase in ‘‘amide’’ 
nitrogen content with increased concentration of the dose, 
and the same was true for reducing sugars, although the gen- 
eral effect of ether was again shown to be a tendency towards 
condensation processes. At the same time, the after-effect 
of etherization here appeared as an inhibition of the loss of 
