THE MUCIN OF WHITE FIBROUS CONNECTIVE 



TISSUE.* 



BT B. H. CHITTENDEN AND WILLIAM J. GIES. 



ALL of the bodies belonging to the group of mucins and 

 mucoids are possessed of considerable physiological interest, 

 owing especially to their peculiar compound nature and the 

 illustration which they afford of a possible intimate union 

 between the proteid group and carbohydrate radicles. That 

 there are a number, possibly a large number, of closely related 

 bodies belonging to the mucins and mucoids there can be no 

 question. Thanks to the labors of Hammarstenf and his 

 pupils, many of these bodies have been subjected to careful 

 and thorough investigation, and much light has been thrown 

 upon their relationships and differences. There is still, 

 however, much to be ascertained regarding these bodies, and 

 any additional facts broadening or substantiating our present 

 knowledge are to be welcomed as contributing toward a more 

 complete understanding of their genetic relationships. The 

 union of carbohydrate groups with proteid molecules is 

 probably more common than has hitherto been supposed, as 

 witness the peculiar gluco-nucleoproteid recently described by 

 Hammarsten J as a constituent of the pancreas and other 

 glands, and the identification by Kossel of a peculiar 

 carbohydrate group as a cleavage product of certain forms of 

 nucleic acid. Presumably in these compound proteids of the 

 mucin type the character of the proteid radicle as well as of 



* Reprinted from the Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. i. 

 t Pfliiger's Archiv f. Physiol., Band xxxvi ; Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 

 Band x and xii. 



t Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., Band xix. 



Du Bois-Reymond's Archiv f. Physiol., Physiol. Abtheil., 1891. 



