76 TISSUE FERMENTS 



investigated more exactly the bearing of these phenomena in 

 relation to various physiological and pathological processes ; 

 since when they have been the subject of general attention. 

 Thereafter "auiolysis" (a term introduced by Jacoby which 

 has since been adopted generally) has remained an important 

 subject in the list of problems of physiological pathology. 

 At this point we may as well attempt to explain the process 

 in as practical a manner as possible, whatever the outcome. 



Autolysis a Complex Process. It is essential that we 

 keep in mind that the autodigestive processes are really of 

 complex nature, for the reason that they are not the result of 

 the isolated action of any one given enzyme but of a number 

 of ferments. Side by side in their operation are the protein- 

 splitting "tryptases," " erepsines" (concerned in complet- 

 ing the dissociation of the high molecular cleavage products 

 of the protein molecule), "arginases," ammonia-splitting 

 "deamidases," "nudeases" splitting the nucleins, the mys- 

 terious "oxidases," and besides these undoubtedly many 

 more for which we do not even have a name. It is not at all 

 remarkable therefore that in the study of autolytic mixtures 

 we have to do with a decidedly " mixed group " ; along with 

 the typical cleavage products of proteins and nucleinic acids, 

 and besides the derivatives of these (as guanidin, tetra- 

 methylendiamin and aminobutyric acid) are to be met a 

 variety more of products (as lactic acid, succinic acid, 

 volatile fatty acids), the origin of which is by no means 

 certain. 2 



Antiseptic Difficulty in Autolysis Experiments. There 

 is, however, one very great difficulty in conducting ex- 

 periments in autolysis, namely, that of insuring antisepsis. 



a A. Magnus-Levy, Hofmeister's Beitr., 2, 261, 1902; S. Isaak (F. Hof- 

 meister's Lab.), Inaug. Diss., Strassburg, 1904; M. Schenk (Physiol. Instit., 

 Marburg), Wochenschr. f. Brauerei, 1905, No. 16; abst. Centralbl. f. physiol. 

 19, 519, 1905; P. A. Levene, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 41, 393, 1904; Amer. 

 Journ. of Physiol., 11, 437, 1904; 12, 276, 1904. 



