THE TESTIS. 93 



or substances allied to proteids ; of the latter, nuclein and nucleo- 

 proteids are the most abundant. 



As in other cases, the fresh gland is alkaline ; l the acidity noted by 

 Treskin 2 was probably the result of post-mortem changes. The extract- 

 ives which have been found are leucine and tyrosine (these are probably 

 post-mortem products); lecithin, cholesterin, and fat (Treskin); creatine ; 3 

 inosite ; 4 adenine, xanthine, hypoxanthine, guanine, 5 and other derivat- 

 ives of nuclein. 6 



The salts present are chiefly chlorides of sodium and potassium 

 (Treskin). 



Semen. The chief chemical constituent of the spermatozoa is nuclein 

 (Miescher, see p. 66). Miescher also prepared a base which he called 

 protamine, and to which Piccard 7 ascribed the formula C 16 H 32 N 9 4 . 

 Another organic substance, akin to a proteid, and containing 4 per cent. 

 of sulphur, was also described by Miescher. 



Kossel 8 has examined the protamine from the testis of salmon and stur- 

 geons ; he calls it salmine or sturine, according to its origin. He prepared 

 from it various crystalline salts, and a new base, C 6 H 9 N 3 9 , he terms 

 histidine. 9 



Among other substances he prepared from fishes' spermatozoa, was thymin, 

 the substance he had previously got from the nucleic acid of the thymus 

 (see p. 66). 



Lecithin, next to nuclein and proteids, is the chief organic substance 

 in spermatozoa. 10 Cholesterin and fat are also fairly abundant. Miescher 

 gives the following percentage for the salmon's spermatozoa : 



Nuclein . . 46 '68 per cent. | Lecithin . .7*47 per cent. 

 Protamine . 26'76 ,, | Cholesterin . 2'24 ,, 



Proteids . . 10'32 | Fat . . . 4'53 



Miescher continued to work at this subject (salmon's spermatozoa) 

 throughout his life. He, however, never published much beyond his 

 early papers. After his death, Schmiedeberg published an article n 

 compiled from his numerous notes. This paper relates to the quantitat- 

 ive composition of the spermatozoa, and gives analyses of the principal 

 substances obtained from them, especially nuclein and protamine. He 

 considers these are in chemical union, thus : 



(nucleic acid) (protamine) 



The heads of the spermatozoa contain 6073 per cent, of nucleic acid 

 and 1978 per cent, of protamine. The tails (which are soluble in 



1 Sertoli, Gazz. med.-vet., Milano, 1872, Anno ii. 



2 Arch.f. d. ges. Physiol., Bonn, Bd. v. S. 122. 



3 Schottin, see Hoppe-Seyler, " Physiol. Chem.," S. 773. 



4 Schottin, Kiilz, Sitzungsb. d. Gesdlsch. z. Beford. d. ges. Naturw. zu Marburg, 1876, 

 No. 4. 



5 Schindler, Ztsckr. f. physiol. Chem., Strassburg, Bd. xiii. S. 438. 



6 Kossel, ibid., 1896, Bd. xxii. S. 172, 188 ; HediD, ibid., S. 191. 



7 Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Gesellsch., Berlin, Bd. vii. S. 1714. 



8 Loc. cit. 



9 Hedin (loc. cit. ) believes histidine is identical with a base he had previously obtained 

 iu his work on the decomposition products of proteids. 



10 Diaconovv ; see Hoppe-Seyler's "Med. Chem. Untersuch.," Bd. ii. S. 221 ; Hi. S. 405. 



11 Arch.f. expcr. Path. u. PharmaJcol., Leipzig, 1896, Bd. xxxvii. S. 100. 



