ix THE PROTAMINS 419 



content is noteworthy. The Lota-histone gives a strong reaction of 

 Molisch, while the Scomber-histone reacts especially to Millon's test. 



The Scomber-histone and Miescher's albumose differ from other 

 histones in not being soluble in an excess of ammonia even if salts are 

 absent ; in not being completely precipitated by ammonia, and in not 

 being thrown down by corrosive sublimate. The precipitation-limits 

 of ammonium sulphate lie for Lota-histone between 4'1 and 4*9. 



VIII. THE PROTAMINS 



Miescher 1 found in 1874 in the ripe spermatozoa of the salmon 

 a base which he called protamin. Miescher's investigations were con- 

 tinued by Kossel, 2 who has made the protamins into one of the best 

 known groups of albumins. By him and his pupils protamins have 

 been discovered in the spermatozoa of several kinds of fish. These 

 protamins resemble one another strongly and have been called by 

 Kossel after the animal they are derived from : salmin, from the 

 salmon ; sturin, from the sturgeon ; clupein, from the herring ; 

 scombrin, from the mackerel. 



The protamins form a well-defined group, which differs consider- 

 ably from most of the other albuminous groups. They contain no 

 sulphur and less carbon but a great deal more nitrogen than do the 

 other albumins because protamins are composed essentially of basic 

 dissociation -products, in particular arginin, which may rise from 

 58 to 84 per cent of the total dissociation-products (Kossel). The 

 mono-amino acids, on the other hand, are very scanty. 



1 F. Miescher, 'Die Spermatozoen einiger Wirbeltiere,' Verh. d. naturf. Ges. zu Basel, 

 VI. 138 (1874) ; J. Piccard, Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Ges. 7. II. 1714 (1874) ; post- 

 humous papers of Miescher, edited by 0. Schmiedeberg, Arch. f. experiment. Path. u. 

 Pharm. 37. 1 (1896). 



2 A. Kossel, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem. 22. 176 (1896) ; 25. 165 (1898) ; 26. 588 

 (1899) ; Bull. Soc. chim. de Paris, 3. Ser. t. 29, Nr. 14 ; 20 Juli 1903 ; Ber. d. 

 deutsch. chem. Ges. 34. III. 3214 (1901) ; Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem. 40. 311 (1903) ; 

 A. Kossel and A. Mathews, ibid. 25. 190 (1898) ; A. Kossel and F. Kutscher, ibid. 

 31. 165 (1900) ; D. Kurajeff, ibid. 26. 524 (1899) ; 32. 197 (1901) ; N. Morkowin, 

 ibid. 28. 313 (1899) ; W. H. Thompson, 29. 1 (1899) ; M. Goto, 37. 84 (1902) ; 

 A. Kossel and H. D. Dakiu, 40. 565 (1903). 



[TABLE 



