68 



LECTURES ON IMMUNITY 



Here we have a very nice example of a monomolecular 

 reaction, where the rate of transformation is proportional 

 as well to the quantity of pepsin present as to that of 

 the albumen present, but where, because of the perturbing 

 influence of one of the reaction-products, the simple law 

 of the monomolecular processes is altered. It reminds one 

 in this regard strongly of the monomolecular process of 

 transformation of acetamid studied by Ostwald, 1 or of the 

 bimolecular process of saponification of ethyl acetate by 

 ammonia, examined by myself. 2 



In such cases the experimental fact that x, the trans- 

 formed quantity, is only a function of qt, the product of 

 the quantity of the reacting substance and the time, gives 

 an answer to the question, whether the action is, ceteris 

 paribus, proportional to the quantity, q y of the reacting 

 substance. In an analogous manner if x is only dependent 

 upon (ft or generally upon/(^y, this circumstance indicates 

 that the action of the substance is proportional to its 

 square or in general q to the function/^). 



By the aid of the integral formula the calculated 

 values are found which are tabulated above beside those 

 found by Sjoqvist. The agreement is very close and 



1 Ostwald: Journ. f. prakt. Ck. 27. I (1883). 



2 Arrhenius: Ztitschr. f. ph. Ch. 2. 289 (1888). 



