The Definition of a Ferment. 27 



protoplasm of gland epithelium is capable of exercising 

 such a hydrating influence, we will instance the con- 

 version of glycogen into sugar by the liver." 



"It must be borne in mind, that although the 

 proto-albumose, hetero-albumose, and deutero-albumose, 

 which are formed by these various agencies, have so 

 far not been chemically differentiated, they are not 

 identical, and when submitted to that infinitely more 

 sensitive test the physiological one produce vastly 

 different results." 



Is the Poison a Ferment P 



Dr. C. J. Martin says not ; because, unlike pepsin 

 and trypsin, its action is not destroyed by boiling, but 

 it is by prolonged boiling. 



The Definition of a Ferment. 



I extract the following from Waller's " Human 

 Physiology, 1891": 



" The essential constituent of each digestive fluid is 

 a ferment ptyalin in saliva, pepsin in gastric juice, 

 trypsin in pancreatic juices, invertin in intestinal 

 juice. These and other ferments are the specific 

 agents by which the digestive transformations of the 

 food are effected. They are the occult agents of modern 

 physiology, inasmuch as they have never been isolated 

 as definite bodies, and are recognised to be present 

 only by the effects they produce" The italics are mine 

 (G.B.H.) 



I claim therefore for snake venom the rank of a 

 powerful ferment. For, in addition to the difficulty 



