BACTERIAL PROTEINS 17 



after being boiled with dilute mineral acid. In 

 the unbroken molecule this carbohydrate un- 

 doubtedly is contained within the nuclein group. 

 If the presence of cellulose be essential to plant 

 tissue, bacteria certainly are not forms of plant 

 life. 



There is no controversy concerning the pres- 

 ence of nuclein in bacterial cellular substance as 

 the xanthine bases have been demonstrated 

 among the disruption products both in my own 

 laboratory and elsewhere. The literature on 

 this subject is too extensive to permit me to 

 go into it exhaustively and I will content myself 

 with a few references. Klebs obtained from 

 the turbercle bacillus a nuclein containing 8-9 

 per cent of phosphorus. From the same organ- 

 ism Euppel separated a nuclein containing 9.42 

 per cent of phosphorus which he designated tu- 

 berculinic acid. Levin obtained from the tu- 

 bercle bacillus proteins, nuclein, and crystals 

 which he considered a mixture of thymil and 

 uracil, also cyjjtosin. Lustig and Galeotti ob- 

 tained a nucleo-protein from the pest bacillus. 

 In our work the presence of nuclein bodies was 

 plainly in evidence. Leach obtained from the 

 colon cell substance a body containing 7.33 per 

 cent of phosphorus and both Leach and Wheeler 



