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152 BACTERIA IN RELATION TO PLANT DISEASES. 
production of albumoses. The liquid in this case came from a repeatedly nourished pitcher and was 
kept in the laboratory during the period of experiment (3 days). 
To determine whether digestion was in any way dependent on absorption he separated pitchers 
- from the plant at different intervals, after the addition of albumen, and in every case found that this 
separation from the plant inhibited digestion. A comparative study was made of the tissues of adult 
pitchers with and without nourishment by the addition of albumen. In adult pitchers which had 
received additions of albumen, the tissues in the vicinity of the spiral vessels coming from the glands 
and the tracheids which go to the vessels showed a manifest accumulation of proteids (De Wevre’s 
eosine test). 
Besides his researches in Java, Clautriau also worked on other species in hothouses in Europe, 
especially N. mastersiana. 
For the separation of the products of digestion he used Neumeister’s methods. His experiments 
were as follows: 
He removed from a large pitcher the liquid containing the remains of insects, replacing it with 
a mixture of 12.5 cc. of distilled water and 2.5 cc. of incoagulable albumen. In all his hothouse 
experiments this albumen was used. ‘The removed liquid (9 cc.) was filtered and divided into 3 parts. 
To A, 20 drops of albumen were added, to B the same amount of albumen and a drop of dilute chlor- 
hydric acid (0.01 ec. HCl.). C was kept in a hot water bath at 100° for 6 minutes before receiving 
the same treatment as B. A fragment of camphor was used in each case as an antiseptic. ‘The tubes 
were kept in the thermostat at 37°. After 3 days, A and B contained no albumen, no syntonin, and 
only traces of albumoses; the peptonization was, therefore, complete. In C all the albumen had 
disappeared; there was much syntonin, a little albumose, and no peptones. This result was con- 
firmed by many experiments. At alow temperature (20°) the same experiment gave different results. 
After 5 days there was a little albumose present and doubtful traces of peptones, while a considerable 
quantity of syntonin remained. Clautriau thinks, therefore, that temperature plays a large part in 
the proteolysis. 
The experiments on absorption made in Java were repeated on hothouse plants with the same 
results. In one case the liquid of a pitcher was replaced with distilled water and albumen, on three 
different occasions. Each time the albumen was digested, and the products absorbed completely. 
In thisway 32.5 cc. of the incoagulable albumen were digested without injury to the urn. Clautriau 
thinks that as the peptones are diffusible it is natural that they should bethe first substances absorbed. 
In only two cases didhe succeed indemonstrating peptones in the pitcher: Once in a pitcher of feeble 
vitality, once after adding methylene blue which seemed to retard absorption. 
To prove that the plant really derives benefit from pitcher digestion, Clautriau undertook to 
show that the nitrogen of albuminoid substances was really absorbed by the plant and not present 
in the pitcher liquid in another form. ‘The method used was to determine the quantity of nitrogen 
present in the pitcher, after a certain period of digestion with a known quantity of albumen. Accord- 
ing to Kjeldahl’s method, rocc. of incoagulable albumen gave a quantity of ammonia equivalent to 
14 cc. of decinormal sulphuric acid. ~The same amount of albumen, after 7 days digestion in a pitcher, 
when subjected to the same treatment neutralized only 2.8 cc. of the decinormal sulphuric acid. 
In a second experiment it neutralized 2.7 cc. Thus after a week only 20 per cent of the nitrogen 
remained, part of which may have come from zymase and from the chitinous remains of insects. 
Clautriau states also that the glands are the agents of absorption as well as of secretion. Micro- 
chemical examination showed that after digestion and absorption had taken place, the glands, and 
cells surrounding them, showed marked accumulation of albuminoid substances, while no such con- 
dition was found in the epidermal cells. Clautriau further states that he isolated a small quantity 
of true peptone. He failed to find either leucin, tyrosin, or amido-acids, and hence considers the 
enzym a pepsin. Starch is not digested. 
In 1901, Vines published another paper on the proteolytic enzyme of Nepenthes, first 
reviewing Clautriau’s researches to which in some instances he takes exception, though 
on the whole he regards them as important. 
In the first place Vines states that, contrary to Clautriau’s inference, the addition of a little 
hydrochloric acid or of att organic acid hastens the process of digestion, although naturally acid pitcher 
liquid will digest proteid. Neutral pitcher liquid will not digest it at all. Moreover, with regard 
to the doubt expressed by Clautriau as to the presence of an enzym in the liquid of unopened 
pitchers, he states that the liquid is very active when properly acidified. 
The most important point of difference, however, is the nature of the enzym, which Clautriau 
claims is a pepsin, on the ground that he has been unable to detect leucin or tyrosin: Vines on the - 
other hand considers it a trypsin. 
