BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE SEXUAL ORGANS 291 



these three protamines the number of arginine molecules must 

 be twice as great as the total number of monoamino acid 

 molecules present in the protamine molecule. 



The investigations of Kossel and Pringle l have shown tha_t 

 substances can be obtained by partial hydrolysis of these 

 protamines, the so-called " protones," which represent inter- 

 mediate decomposition products between these protamines 

 and the amino acid units of which the protamines are built up, 

 and that these protones again contain eight-ninths of their total 

 nitrogen in the form of arginine. It follows, then, that the 

 molecules of salmine, scombrine, and clupeine have a symmetrical 

 structure, and are built up of molecular complexes containing 

 always twice as many arginine molecules as monoamino acid 

 molecules. 



In other protamines the amount of arginine is smaller, 

 while lysine is found to be present. At the same time the 

 number of monoamino acids bound up in the protamine 

 molecule increases so that the different protamines exhibit 

 varying degrees of complexity. Ammonia and certain mono- 

 amino acids (glycocoll, phenylalanine, glutaminic acid, aspartic 

 acid, the sulphur -containing cystine) are never present. 



In the case of some fishes e.g. Gadus morrhua? Lota vulgaris 3 

 the basic substances isolated from the spermatozoa differ 

 essentially from the protamines, and in character more resemble 

 the typical proteins. Their nitrogen content varies between 

 16 per cent, and 18 per cent. On hydrolysis the yield of 

 diamino acids is very much smaller than in the case of the 

 protamines. Only 30 to 40 per cent, of diamino acids, among 

 which arginine again preponderates, are obtained. Accordingly 

 they are not so strongly basic as the protamines. They contain 

 cystine. They are precipitated by ammonia, a reaction which 

 the protamines do not give. They resemble in their be- 

 haviour substances which have been isolated from the nuclei 

 of somatic cells, e.g. the blood corpuscles of the fowl, the 



1 Kossel and Pringle, " Uber Protamine und Histone," Zeitschrift f. phys. 

 Chemie, vol. xlix., 1906. 



2 Kossel and Kutscher, " Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Eiweisskorper," 

 Zeitschr.f. phys. Chemie, vol. xxxi., 1900. 



3 Ehrstrom, " Uber ein neues Histon aus Fischsperma." Zeitschrift f. 

 phys. Chemie, vol. xxxii., 1901. 



