SUMMARY 555 



sions of physiology. The oxidases are capable of taking 

 part in other ways in the catabolism of the cyclic complexes 

 of the protein molecule, as (aside from their role as i i respira- 

 tory enzymes " in the vegetable kingdom) in the production 

 and destruction of suprarenin, and in all sorts of detoxifying 

 processes in the animal body. The study of the oxidases 

 has not, however, brought us appreciably nearer to the final 

 secrets of life. 



This evidence from the writer may seem very frank, 

 coming from one who has devoted much time and labor upon 

 the oxidases and who belonged among the number of those 

 who "rode" the oxidases; it would undoubtedly be much 

 more pleasant for the author if he could take the opposite 

 position. 



"If we were satisfied," thus Battelli and Stern conclude 

 their monograph, "to ascribe to the oxidation ferments un- 

 certain, ill-defined characteristics, we might also accept for 

 them unlimited capacity for action, and assume further that 

 they effect all the oxidations in process in the economy. In 

 this case, however, the term of ferment would lose all 

 exact meaning, and would express nothing more than proto- 

 plasm-activity or cell-activity. If one, however, thinks of 

 the oxidizing ferments as constituting a well defined class 

 of enzymes with clearly marked characteristics the answer 

 must naturally be different. "We will then be forced to con- 

 fess that in animal tissue we know of no single agent mani- 

 festing the peculiar properties of the oxidation ferments as 

 they have thus far been known, that possesses the ability to 

 induce combustions such as are completely carried out in the 

 animal body, and to reproduce even in the slightest degree 

 such a process as muscle respiration, for example. We are, 

 therefore, not justified in concluding that these combustions 

 are caused by the agency of oxidizing ferments, and are 

 compelled to acknowledge that the mechanism of these com- 

 bustions is thus far unknown. ' ' 45 



45 F. Battelli and L. Stern, Ergebn. d. Physiol., 12, 267-268, 1912. 



