Mason — Preliminary Notes on the Carbohydrates of the MuscL 19 



It is strange that in the juice squeezed from plants that had been frozen 

 by means of liquid air, no invertive action could be detected. This may 

 be due to the fact that the tannin had not been removed as it is in the 

 alcoholic treatment. 



Other Musci in which invertase has been detected are : — 



Sphagnum cymbifoliicm. 



Bracliythecium rividare. 



Dicranus majus. 



Thuidium tamariscinum. 

 In all these mosses there is no difficulty in detecting the enzyme ; even 

 after four hours appreciable quantities of reducing sugars can be detected ; in 

 Sphagnum this is not always the case. 



Diastase. 

 The material under examination was treated in much the same way as that 

 for invertase. A 0'2 per cent, solution of potato starch was used. The 

 following measures were taken to eliminate errors : — 



1. The starch solution was tested before use for reducing sugars. 



2. Toluol was used as an antiseptic. 



3. Freshly prepared Fehling solution was employed to detect the reducing 



sugar or sugars formed. 



4. The same system of checking was used as for invertase, two flasks being 



employed, in one of which the leaf-powder was boiled. 



5. The starch-paste after incubation was filtered off and tested with liquor 



iodi and Fehling solution. 



6. Phenylhydrazine was employed in order to determine the nature of the 



sugar or sugars resulting from the hydrolysis. 



In the following experiment - 2 gram of leaf-powder was added to 50 c c. 

 of a 02 per cent, solution of starch, and incubated at 30° : — 



