770 
tion of a new cell, on the other, they are 
‘consumed in the synthesis of an exceed- 
ingly active compound. So that scrutinize 
the matter as carefully as we may, we are 
able to see no break or discontinuity any- 
where between protoplasmic activity on the 
one hand and the activity of the enzyme 
upon the other, and, originating as they do, 
it would be very strange indeed if the 
enzymes were found to be inactive sub- 
stances. In this connection Langley’s view 
on the relation of pepsin to the gland cells 
is highly suggestive. He says, I conceive 
the matter thus: “‘The protoplasm of the 
gland cells does not at one swoop form 
zymogen as it occurs immediately previous 
to its conversion into pepsin, but forms cer- 
tain intermediate bodies in which the zymo- 
gen radicles become more and more isolated. 
Since the zymogen contains the radicle of 
the ferment, the ferment will be obtained 
with greater difficulty from the imperfectly 
elaborated zymogen, 7. ¢., aS we ascend 
from the final meso state to protoplasm, the 
ferment will be split off less and less readily. 
The last traces of the ferment, then, which 
are obtained by repeated extractions, I take 
it, arise from substances which are on the 
way to be converted into zymogen.’’* From 
such clear and beautiful reasoning it is but 
a short and logical step to the modern view 
of Reynolds Green,} who sees in the power 
to produce fermentation a fundamental in- 
herent property of protoplasm; and who 
sees in the secretion of a particular enzyme 
‘a mark of differentiation within the living 
substance, just as in the slow movements 
of amceboid protoplasm we recognize some- 
thing which in the higher and more differ- 
entiated organism appears as the contrac- 
tion of muscular fiber.’ 
The general conduct of the enzymes is 
* «The Soluble Ferments and Fermentation,’ Green, 
p. 384. 
} ‘The Soluble Ferments and Fermentation,’ Green, 
p. 371. 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. XIII. No. 333. 
such, therefore, that if, in addition to their 
other properties, we could invest them with 
morphological characteristics and with the 
power of growth and reproduction, even the 
most conservative would, I take it, be in- 
clined to place the soluble ferments in the 
category of living things. If they possess 
morphological characteristics, however, 
these are beyond the reach of the highest 
magnifying powers in our possession to-day; 
and while the enzymes exhibit certain recu- 
perative tendencies,* they have never been 
made apart from the zymogen granules or 
the living cell, and while in perfectly dry 
condition they are fairly stable under ordi- 
nary conditions, their solutions speedily de- 
teriorate, and only in a very few instances 
has there been observed any spontaneous 
*The tendency on the part of the enzymes to re- 
gain their activity after they have once lost it, for any 
cause, is very suggestive in the light of these consid- 
erations. Bussy in his investigation of myrosin long 
ago pointed out that after the activity of this ferment 
had been destroyed by small amounts of ether or weak 
acids it regained the same by remaining in contact 
with water for 24 to 48 hours.—Liebig’s Ann., 34 
(1840), 227. : 
In like manner Bokorny has found that a 0.01-per- 
cent. solution of formaldehyd renders malt diastase 
inactive for 24 hours without destroying the enzyme 
altogether.— Chem. Ztg., 24, 1113-1114, 19/12, 1900. 
Quite recently Hanriot has observed that serum 
lipase is rendered inactive by small amounts of free 
acid. After neutralization, however, the ferment re- 
gains its activity. He concludes, therefore. that the 
acids first combine with the enzyme to produce sub- 
stances no longer capable of hydrolyzing fats, and 
that upon neutralization these compounds are de- 
composed and the ferment regenerated.—C. R., 132, 
146-149. 
In this connection it is further interesting to note 
that by treatment with caustic potash Scholl was able 
to partially restore to blood serum the antiseptic 
powers which it had lost as the result of heating. At 
present the germicidal property of serum is believed 
to bezymotic. Hueppe’s ‘ Principles of Bacteriology.’ 
—Jordan, p. 86. 
It is further interesting to note in this connection 
also that during life protoplasm shows a faintly 
alkaline reaction. Hammarstan’s ‘Physiol. Chem.’ 
Also ‘ Lehrbuch der Physiol. Chem.’ Neumeister. 
