128 LECTURES ON IMMUNITY 



Zeller l on the lipolytic agent in the mushroom (Amanita 

 muscarid). An aqueous extract of the powder of this mush- 

 room had no lipolytic action. But if the powder were mixed 

 with olive oil or tallow, they were slowly decomposed. I 

 reproduce some figures for olive oil. In this case the reac- 

 tion is decidedly monomolecular (the constant used for the 

 calculation is 0.00045). The acid from the olive oil evi- 

 dently has no sensible influence on the enzyme. 



Time (hours) 48 118 160 304 485 631 



Decomposition (per cent) 4.8 11.5 14.2 28.5 38.9 46.3 

 Decomposition (calc.) 4.8 10.9 15.3 27.0 39.5 48.0 



Regarding the lipolytic action of the cytoplasma of the 

 seeds of Ricinus commtmis, a large number of experi- 

 ments have been carried out by Nicloux. 2 He found that 

 the catalytic agent is not soluble in water, which seems 

 to arrest its action. The conditions of the reaction seem, 

 therefore, to have been nearly the same as in the ex- 

 periments of Zeller. The reaction proceeds (at low tem- 

 peratures) very closely according to the law valid for 

 monomolecular reactions. The cytoplasma was suspended 

 in the oil examined, in most cases cotton oil, and thereafter 

 water containing a small quantity of acetic acid was added. 

 The following figures, valid for 18 C., indicate that the 

 process is monomolecular : 



Time (min.) 30 45 60 90 127 150 210 450 



Saponification, per cent (.*) 23.6 33.1 40.4 54.8 67.0 73.2 85.5 94.4 



K= log IOQ _ x 0.388 0.387 0.375 -3 82 -392 0.381 0.399 0-278 



1 Zeller : Sitz. ber. d. Ak. d. Wiss, zu Wien (chemical memoirs = Monat- 

 shefte fur Chemie), 36. 727 (1905). 



2 M. Nicloux: C. R. de la Soc de. Biol. 56. I. 701, 702, 839, 840, and 868 

 (1904). 



