370 



THE FORMATION OF MELANIN S. 



perhaps, antialbumid is especially well adapted to be the 

 mother substance of a melanin. Between antialbumid and the 

 melanins there is a certain recognizable kinship in composition, 

 which renders the formation of a melanin-like pigment from 

 this peculiar form of proteid matter an easy task. It is equally 

 clear, from our experiments, however, that melanin may be 

 formed likewise from such dissimilar proteid substances as 

 so-called hemipeptone, from which we are forced to the con- 

 clusion that no one form of proteid matter is the sole antecedent 

 of these peculiar brownish black pigments. 



