CHEMICAL BASIS OF THE ANIMAL BODY. 41 



thus produced is an ti pep tone, for it yields no leucin or ty rosin by the 

 action of trypsin. 



It has been suggested above that Meissner's dyspeptone might have consisted 

 largely of nuclein, and this possibility becomes very great in the light of the 

 statements previously made as to the nature of casein (see p. 20) and the fact that 

 it was during the digestion of this proteid that he obtained the so-called dyspeptone. 

 Even as regards the similar residue left during a peptic digestion of fibrin, it has 

 been stated that here also the dyspeptone is merely a residue (nucleins) from the 

 cellular elements which are ordinarily entangled in the fibrin ; in support of this it 

 is stated that no dyspeptone is obtained during the digestion of fibrin prepared from 

 filtered plasma 1 . There is however now no doubt from Kiihne's researches that 

 anti-albumid is a true proteid, not a mere undigested residue of nucleins, and that 

 its properties are generally such as Meissner described for his dyspeptone. 



The albumoses. These are the true primary products of the 

 action of the proteolytic enzymes on proteids, and give rise by the 

 further action of the ferments to the corresponding peptones. In ac- 

 cordance with Kiihne's views already stated there must of necessity be 

 at least two albumoses, antialbumose the forerunner of antipeptoiie, 

 and hemialbumose of hemipeptone. 



Antialbumose 2 . This substance is obtained as a neutralisation 

 precipitate at a certain early stage of a fractionated peptic digestion of 

 proteids. In its ordinary chemical reactions it is indistinguishable 

 from acid-albumin or syntonin. It may be converted into a peptone 

 by the further action of pepsin, and still more readily by the action of 

 trypsin, so that it does not make its appearance in the final products 

 of either a prolonged peptic or a short tryptic digestion. The peptone, 

 into which it may be converted by either pepsin or trypsin, is anti- 

 peptone, for it cannot be made to yield any trace of leucin or tyrosin 

 by even the most prolonged and energetic treatment with trypsin, and 

 in this fact lies the distinction between antialbumose and either acid- 

 albumin or syntonin. During its peptonisation by trypsin some 

 antialbumid is simultaneously formed. Antialbumose differs from 

 parapeptone by the fact that the latter can only be peptonised by 

 trypsin, the former by either pepsin or trypsin. 



Hemialbumose*. This is the best known, most characteristic and 

 most frequently obtained by-product of proteid zymolysis 4 . It was 



1 Hammarsten, Pfliiger's Arch. Bd. xxx. (1883), S. 440. 



2 Kiihne u. Chittenden, Zt. f. Biol. xix. (1883), Sn. 170, 194. 



3 Schmidt-Miilheim, antea loc. cit. Salkowski, Virchow's Arch. Bd. 81. (1880), 

 S. 552. Kiihne and Chittenden, loc. cit. and Zt. f. Biol. Bd. xx. (1884), S. 11. 

 Herth, Monatshefte f. Chem. Bd. v. (1884), S. 266. Straub (Dutch). See Maly's 

 Bericht. Bd. xiv. (1884), S. 28. Hamburger (Dutch). See Maly's Bericht. Bd. xvi. 

 (1886), S. 20. 



4 This expression may be conveniently used to denote generally the changes 

 produced by the unorganised ferments. 



