56 THE ALBUMINS. 



histon or a protamin. To this group also belongs the nucleinate of 

 histon which has been obtained from the cellular elements of the 

 thymus gland. Elementary analysis of some of these simpler 

 bodies has given the following results : 



Nucleinate of arbacin : N = 15.9 



Nucleinate of salmin: = 39.85 H = 4.86 N = 18.81 P 2 O 5 = 173 



10(C 40 H 54 N U 27 P 4 .C 16 H 28 N 9 2 )+C 40 H 54 N U 27 P 4 

 Nucleinate of salmin Nucleinic acid 



Nucleinate of clupein : C = 41.2 H = 5.75 N^ 21.07 P=6.08 O^ 25.92 

 (C 30 H 57 N n 6 .C 40 H 54 N 14 P 4 29 ) 



All or nearly all nucleoproteids contain iron, which, according to 

 Kossel and Ascoli, is united with the phosphorus of the nucleinic 

 acid and not with the albumin. 



More complex nucleoproteids occur in the pancreas, the thyroid, 

 the adrenal glands, the mammary glands, the spleen, etc. Some 

 ferments also are supposedly of nucleoproteid nature. 



The nucleoproteids are all markedly acid bodies. They are 

 soluble in water and saline solutions and even more so in alkalies. 

 They are precipitated by acids, but dissolve in an excess (being at 

 the same time decomposed). Like the native albumins, they are 

 coagulated by heat and the usual reagents, and undergo denaturiza- 

 tion ; during this process only the albuminous radicle, however, is 

 affected. They can be precipitated by salting, and give the char- 

 acteristic color reactions of the albumins. Noteworthy is their 

 behavior toward polarized light. Whereas the albumins are all laevo- 

 rotatory, the nucleoproteids turn the plane of polarization to the right 

 (Gamgee, Jones). Osborne has shown that this property is very 

 likely wholly referable to the nucleinic acid component. The 

 degree of dextrorotation may vary between +37.5 and +97. 9. 



On hydrolysis the nucleoproteids yield the decomposition-prod- 

 ucts of the albuminous component, besides those of the nucleinic 

 acid radicle, viz., xanthiu bases and phosphoric acid. 



The Nucleins. The nucleins, as has been stated, do not occur in 

 nature in the free state, but only in combination with albumins as 

 nucleoproteids. Their acid properties, as would be expected, are even 

 more marked than those of the nucleoproteids, and they are scarcely 

 soluble in acids, even when present in excess. They give the reac- 

 tions of the albumins, but differ from these to a great extent in their 

 elementary composition ; they contain only about 40 per cent, of car- 

 bon, but 47 per cent, of phosphorus. In gastric juice most of them 

 are insoluble, while they are readily digested by trypsin. They are 

 soluble in solutions of the hydrates of the alkalies, less readily so 

 in dilute solutions of the alkaline carbonates. In water and alcohol 

 they are for the most part insoluble. They are coagulated by heat, 

 as also by alcohol, and are then insoluble in solutions of the alkaline 

 hydrates. Like the nucleoproteids proper the nucleins also are 

 dextrorotatory, which fact finds its explanation in the observation 



