276 



NATURE 



[January 7, 1909 



<ine of Ihcm can be printed without re-issuing the 

 whole series. The rale of [MOgress now being made 

 in biochemical science is so rapid that this method of 

 publication is the best that can be adopted for keeping 

 abieast of increasing knowledge; and, in addition to 

 this, those interested in any particular subject will be 

 able to obtain the latest information at minimal 

 expense. 



Dr. Bayliss's essay on enzyme action is a fitting 

 introduction to the series, not only because of its 

 excellence, but also because it is becoming recognised 

 that the action of ferments lies at the root of 

 biochemical actions. Outside the living organism the 

 same chemical changes can be made to occur, but 

 only, as a rule, at a high temperature or by the aid 

 of powerful reagents. In the body, the changes are 

 produced at body temperature with far greater 

 rapidity, and in the presence of moderate concentra- 

 tions of acid or alkali. The enzymes responsible for 

 this action are catalysts; that is to say, their presence 

 induces a rapidity in the chemical transformation of 

 the substances they come in contact with, in a manner 

 analogous to that seen in the action of inorganic 

 catalysts. Any deviation from the laws of catalytic 

 phenomena which they exhibit depends upon the 

 colloidal nature of the enzymes. This statement gives 

 in brief the gist of the book. Such questions as the 

 reversibility of ferment action, the nature of the com- 

 pound between enzyme and substrate, and auto- 

 catalysis both positive and negative are also discussed, 

 the w-hole forming an up-to-date, clear and readable 

 exposition of our knowledge on this most important 

 subject, a subject which Dr. Bayliss's own original 

 work has done so much to elucidate. 



Dr. Plimmer's work is a brief and masterly exposi- 

 tion of the present state of protein chemistry, and is 

 most appropriately dedicated to Prof. Emil Fischer, 

 whose epoch-makine- discoveries have done so much 

 to render clear what before was so obscure. In the 

 first of the two parts, the protein molecule as a whole 

 is first examined, and then the individual nmino- 

 acids which form its constituent units are treated, and 

 finally, in the second part, the attempts made by 

 Fischer and his colleagues to build albumin from its 

 constituent bricks are described. It is in this last 

 aspect that the subject is least complete, because, 

 although Fischer has been successful in forming short 

 linkages of amino-acids which he terms polypeptides, 

 and although some of the longer chains he has con- 

 structed bear a close resemblance to the peptones, it is 

 well known that his ultimate aim, the synthesis of 

 albumin itself, has not yet been realised. One cannot, 

 however, doubt that this culmination of his work is 

 only a matter of time. 



Prof. Abderhalden, in his monograph, traverses 

 much the same ground. He has been Prof. Fischer's 

 right-hand man throughout his arduous work, and so 

 is well fitted to e.xpound it. His pamphlet is a reprint 

 of the chapter" he has written on the subject in Karl 

 Oppenheimer's " Handbuch der Biochemie," which is 

 now issuing from the press. 



It must not be supposed that cither Dr. Plimmer's 

 NO. 2045, VOL. 79] 



or Prof. Aoderhalden's contributions to the subject 

 cover the whole ground. In Oppenheimer's hand- 

 book there are several other chapters on the proteins 

 which deal with them from other points of view. 

 There is, for instance, their importance from the 

 biological side, and the r6\e they play in life and in 

 the metabolism of living cells. But before it is pos- 

 sible to understand that to the full, the chemistry of 

 the protein molecule must be understood first. That 

 is the foundation upon which the biologist must build, 

 and that is the reason why so many researchers are 

 spending their lives on the purely chemical aspect of 

 this most important question. Proteins are the most 

 abundant of the constituents of protoplasm; they are 

 always present and never absent, and so far no other 

 laboratory has succeeded in constructing them but 

 the laborator)^ of the living cell. Chemists and 

 biologists alike, however, are beginning to doubt 

 whether proteins are exclusively endowed with the 

 properties we term vital, and are beginning to direct 

 their attention to some other substances which are 

 universally present in protoplasm, and which manifest 

 the character of lability to an even greater degree 

 than do some of the proteins. These substances are 

 termed lipoids, and cholesterin and lecithin may be 

 taken as examples of the class. As a rule thev are 

 present in much smaller quantitv than are the proteins, 

 but they appear to be an indispensable part of thc 

 living molecule. 



In Dr. Vernon's little book we leturn once more 

 to the question of enzymes. It is the seventh of a 

 scries of books which Mr. Murray is issuing under 

 the auspices of the University of London ; like the 

 others, it is the outcome of a course of lecures de- 

 livered in the physiological laboratory of that institu- 

 tion, and it will compare very favourably with ils 

 predecessors. 



As already stated, it is becoming mor<' and more 

 clearly recognised that the activities of living 

 protoplasm are bound up with the activities of fer- 

 ments, the complex organic keys which are able to 

 lock and unlock the unions between the elaborate 

 molecular groups of which living material consists. 

 The action of extra-cellular enzymes, such as pepsin 

 and trypsin, which do their work outside the body- 

 cells, has been familiar for manv years. So also is 

 the enzymatic activity of such micro-organisms as 

 yeast and bacteria. But the conception that meta- 

 bolism in the higher organisms is mainly the result 

 of ferment action in their cells is a comparatively new 

 aspect of the subject, and consequently the one in 

 which the gaps in our knowledge are the most 

 numerous. Dr. Vernon himself, by his original work 

 on autolysis, on tissue erepsin, and other ferments of 

 similar nature, has done a good deal to bridge over 

 these intervals, and is therefore well fitted to lecture 

 upon and write about the subject in a systematic 

 manner. The book that he has produced is eminently 

 readable and highly instructive, and its perusal should 

 be thoughtfully undertaken by all those interested in 

 the mechanism of the many problems presented to the 

 student of animal and vegetable life. W. D. H. 



