SEMEN. SPERMINE. 621 



has found a protamine in human semen which yielded arginine and 

 perhaps also lysine on cleavage. The mineral bodies consist mainly of cal- 

 cium phosphate and considerable NaCl. Potassium occurs only in 

 smaller amounts. 



The semen in the vas deferens differs chiefly from the ejected semen 

 in that it is without the peculiar odor. This last depends on the admixture 

 with the secretion of the prostate. This secretion, according to IVERSEN, 

 has a milky appearance and ordinarily an alkaline reaction, very rarely 

 a neutral one, and contains small amounts of proteins, especially nucleo- 

 proteins, besides a substance similar to fibrinogen and to mucin (STERN *), 

 and mineral bodies, especially NaCl. Besides this it contains an enzyme 

 vesiculase (see below), lecithin, choline (STERN), and a crystalline com- 

 bination of phosphoric acid with a base, C2HsN. This combination has 

 been called B DITCHER'S spermine crystals, and it is claimed that the 

 specific odor of the semen is due to a partial decomposition of these 

 crystals. 



The crystals which appear on slowly evaporating the semen, and 

 which are also observed in anatomical preparations kept in alcohol, are 

 not identical with the CHARCOT-LEYDEN crystals found in the blood and 

 in the lymphatic glands in leucaemia (Tn. COHN, B. LEWY 2 ). They are, 

 according to SCHREINER, S as above stated, a combination of phosphoric 

 acid with a base, spermine, C2H5N, which he discovered. 



Spermine. Opinions in regard to the nature of this base are not unanimous 

 According to the investigations of LADENBURG and ABEL, it is not improbable 

 that spermine is identical with ethylenimine; but this identity is disputed by 

 MAJERT and A. SCHMIDT, and also by POEHL. The compound of spermine with 

 phosphoric acid BOTTCHER'S spermine crystals is insoluble in alcohol, ether, 

 and chloroform, soluble with difficulty in cold water, but more readily in hot 

 water, and easily soluble in dilute acids or alkalies, also alkali carbonates and 

 ammonia. The base is precipitated by tannic acid, mercuric chloride, gold 

 chloride, platinic chloride, potassium-bismuth iodide, and phosphotungstic acid. 

 Spermine has a tonic action, and, according to POEHL, 4 it has a marked action on 

 the oxidation processes of the animal body. 



On the addition of a solution of potassium iodide and iodine to spermatozoa, 

 characteristic dark-brown or bluish-black crystals are obtained FLORENCE'S 

 sperm reaction, which is considered by many as a reaction for spermine. Accord- 

 ing to BocARius, 5 this reaction is due to choline. 



1 Iversen, Nord. med. Ark., 6; also Maly's Jahresber., 4, 358; Stern, Biochem. 

 Centralbl., 1, 748. 



2 Th. Cohn, Centralbl. f. allg. Path. u. path. Anat., 10 (1899), and Zeitschr.f.Urolog., 

 1908; B. Lewy, Centralbl. f. d. med. Wissensch., 1899, 479. 



8 Annal. d. Chem. u. Pharm., 194. 



4 Ladenburg and Abel, Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Gesellsch., 21; Majert and A. 

 Schmidt, ibid., 24; Poehl, Compt. Rend., 115, Berlin, klin. Wochenschr., 1891 and 

 1893, Deutsch. med. Wochenschr., 1892 and 1895, and Zeitschr. f. klin. Med., 1894. 



6 In regard to Florence's sperm reaction, see Posner, Berl. klin. Wochenschr., 

 1897, and Richter, Wien. klin. Wochenschr., 1897; Bocarius, Zeitschr. f. physiol. 

 Chem,, 34. 



