DIGESTION OF THE ALBUMINS. 185 



Acid albumin is never found in the entire absence of albumoses ; 

 and it is interesting to note that primary albumoses may be present 

 at a time when no acid albumin is as yet demonstrable. This ob- 

 servation may be explained by the assumption that the acid albumin, 

 as soon as formed, is transformed into albumoses. But opposed to 

 this interpretation is the fact that acid albumin is only transformed 

 into albumoses after a comparatively long time, and does not give 

 rise to all products of digestion which can be obtained from the 

 primary albumins from which the acid albumin in turn is derived. 

 Zunz was thus unable to isolate the deutero-albumoses A in all ex- 

 periments in this direction. It has accordingly been suggested that 

 acid albumin does not represent a purely denaturized albumin, but 

 should be placed on the same level with the primary albumoses. 



Goldschmidt maintains the view that the formation of acid albu- 

 min occurs with a coincident splitting off of albumose complexes. 

 On the other hand, it has been noted that under certain conditions 

 the formation of acid albumin can be prevented even though diges- 

 tion otherwise proceeds in the normal manner, and that then the 

 deutero-albumose A is likewise absent, as also that portion of the 

 end-products of peptic digestion which give no biuret reaction. 

 It follows that the formation of acid albumin as an intermediate 

 product in the formation of albumoses is not essential, even though 

 it may be of value during the process of digestion in the living 

 organism. 



Tryptic Digestion. On entering the small intestine the acid 

 gastric contents are rendered alkaline, the pepsin is destroyed, and 

 tryptic digestion begins. 



The material which is exposed to the action of the pancreatic 

 juice consists in part of the primary albumoses which were formed 

 in the stomach, in part of Kiihne's anti-albumid, and in part of 

 syntonin and of native albumins, in soluble or insoluble form, 

 which have escaped the action of the gastric juice. The latter are 

 first dissolved, and together with the syntonins transformed into 

 alkaline albuminate. This result, analogous to the formation of 

 the syntonin in acid solution, as well as the further decomposition 

 of the alkaline albuminate, is no doubt primarily referable to the 

 action of the alkalies of the pancreatic juice, and merely hastened 

 by the ferment which is at the time present. But unlike the action 

 of the gastric juice, tryptic digestion immediately leads to the 

 formation of deutero-albumoses without the intermediary produc- 

 tion of primary albumoses in the sense of Kiihne. According to 

 older views, amphopeptone is then formed, from which hemi- and 

 anti-peptone finally result. This concept, as in the case of the 

 gastric digestion, has been materially modified by more recent in- 

 vestigations. Following the stage of deutero-albumoses, here as 

 there, products are formed which in part give the biuret reaction 

 and in part not. A hemipeptone and an antipeptone in the sense 

 of Kiihne do not exist. The hemi- groups at once break down into 



