PRODUCTS OF HYDROLYSIS 



61 



A relation may consequently exist between the quantity of amide 

 nitrogen which the different proteins yield and their content in gluta- 

 minic and aspartic acids. Fischer has already suggested this, and 

 Osborne and Gilbert (348) have shown that a large proportion of gluta- 

 minic acid is in many cases accompanied by a similar large proportion 

 of amide nitrogen. In the following table the amount of ammonia 

 which would correspond to each molecule of glutaminic and aspartic 

 acid found in the different proteins is calculated, and the percentage of 

 ammonia found by distillation is given for comparison. The results 

 show in most cases a close agreement, but some proteins, for example 

 those of the cereals and those from the pea, show marked differences. 



RATIO OF AMMONIA TO GLUTAMINIC AND ASPARTIC ACIDS. 



As we have good reason to believe that the proportion of 

 glutaminic and aspartic acids obtained from gliadin and glutenin 

 agrees closely with the quantities actually present in these proteins, 

 it is probable that they differ in some way in structure from all the 

 others which have been examined, and that they may possibly con- 

 tain some other dibasic acid not yet isolated from their decomposition 

 products. 



In the case of the proteins of the pea the difference, which is in 



