Chap, vi The Metabolic Processes 397 



another in sieve- tubes. This was observed again by Fischer 

 the next year. Martin described an albumin and two albu- 

 moses in latex in 1885. The latex of several plants was 

 examined by the writer in 1886, and several proteins were 

 found to be present. Globulins and albumoses were detected 

 in the succulent cortex of several stems and roots. 



(b) Crystalline nitrogenous substances other than proteins. 

 There have been only a few observations on the storage 

 of such substances, and they seem to play rather a sub- 

 ordinate part. We owe a great deal of our knowledge of 

 them to the researches of E. Schulze and his pupils from 1878 

 onwards. In 1870 Scheibler found asparagin and betain 

 in beetroots ; Schulze and Urich added glutamin to these 

 two in 1878 ; while in the same year Schulze and Barbieri 

 found asparagin, leucin, and tyrosin, in potatoes. In 1882 

 Schulze ascertained that of the nitrogenous reserves in 

 certain of the latter 56 per cent, consisted of these 

 amino- or amido-bodies, and 44 per cent, of proteins. 

 Shorey found glycin or glycocoll in the sugar-cane in 

 1897. 



III. Fatty Reserves. While the occurrence of oil and 

 fat as reserve materials in seeds, has long been known in 

 the hyphae of fungi and a few other situations, but little 

 exact information as to the mechanism of its deposition 

 or the stages of its formation was afforded during the 

 period under examination. It attracted the attention of 

 Sachs in connexion with his work on the carbohydrates, 

 and he made some observations upon the transport of oil 

 from the seed to the seedling. As late as 1882 he held it 

 to be capable of being formed from, and of giving rise to, 

 starch and sugar, nor did he see any particular difficulty 

 from the chemical point of view in supposing such changes 

 to be direct. He said that it was immaterial how far 

 chemical formulae are able to afford information as to the 

 processes taking place, for there was no doubt that fats 



