130 BACTERIOLOGICAL AND ENZYME CHEMISTRY 



synthesised in the presence of the enzyme lactase from a 

 mixture of equal proportions of glucose and galactose ; and 

 certain fat-splitting enzymes have been found to act reversibly, 

 but the difficulty of working with very concentrated solutions 

 limits the number of successful experiments in this direction. 

 The importance of such synthetic reactions cannot be 

 over-estimated, as we see here a possibility of bringing about 

 reactions by methods closely akin to those by which the 

 synthesis of natural substances is effected by the living 

 organisms, whether plant or animal. 



