650 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1036 



their bearings upon a vast mimber of prob- 

 lems of normal and abnormal biology, so that 

 perforce my remarks shaU be limited to a 

 fragment — a fragment whicli bears upon one 

 of the most baffling yet all-absorbing prob- 

 lems of life, why "like begets like." 



A. The Specificity of Siereoisomerides in 

 Relation to Genera, Species, etc. 



These researches have as their essential 

 basis the conception that in different organisms 

 corresponding complex organic substances that 

 constitute the supreme structural components 

 of protoplasm and the major synthetic products 

 of protoplasmic activity are not in any case 

 absolutely identical in chemical constitution, 

 and that each such substance may exist in 

 countless modifications, each modification being 

 characteristic of the form of protoplasm,, the 

 organ, the individual, the sex, the species and 

 the genus. This conception was supported not 

 only by the extraordinary differences noted 

 between the albuminous substances of venom 

 and those of other parts of the serpent, but 

 also by the results of the investigations of 

 Hanriot, who described marked differences in 

 the properties of the lipases of the pancreatic 

 juice and the blood; of Hoppe-Seyler and 

 others who stated that the pepsins of cold- 

 and warm-blooded animals are not identical; 

 of Wroblewsky and others who recorded differ- 

 ences in the pepsins of mammals; of Kossell 

 and his students who found that the protamins 

 obtained from the spermatozoa of different 

 species of fish are not identical; and of vari- 

 ous observers who have noted that the erythro- 

 cytes of one species when injected into the 

 blood of another are in the nature of foreign 

 bodies and rapidly destroyed. During sub- 

 sequent years, and especially very recently, 

 data have been rapidly accumulating along 

 many and diverse lines of investigation which 

 collectively indicate that every individual is 

 a chemical entity that differs in characteristic 

 particulars from every other. To any one 

 familiar with the advances of biochemistry 

 and with the trend of scientific progress to- 

 wards the explanation of vital phenomena on 

 a physico-chemical basis, it will be obvious that 



if the conception of the non-uniform consti- 

 tution of corresponding proteins and other 

 corresponding complex organic substances in 

 different organisms and parts of organisms 

 were found to be justified by the results of 

 laboratory investigation a bewildering field of 

 speculation, reasoning and investigation would 

 be laid open — a field so extensive as to include 

 every domain of biological science, and seem- 

 ingly to render possible, and even probable, a 

 logical explanation of the mechanisms under- 

 lying the differentiation of individuals, sex, 

 varieties, species and genera; of the causes of 

 fluctuations and mutations; of the phenomena 

 of Mendelism and heredity in general; of the 

 processes of fecundation and sex-determina- 

 tion; of the tolerance of certain organisms 

 to organic poisons that may be extremely 

 virulent to other forms of life; of tumor for- 

 mation, reversions, malformations and mon- 

 sters; of anaphylaxis, certain toxemias, immu- 

 nities, etc. ; and of a vast number of other 

 phenomena of normal and abnormal life which 

 as yet are partially or wholly clothed in 

 mystery. 



Some years previous to the discovery of the 

 nature of the lethal constituents of venoms, 

 Pasteur found that there exist three kinds of 

 tartaric acid which, because of different effects 

 on the ray of polarized light, are distinguished 

 as the dextro-, Isevo- and racemic-tartaric 

 acids, the dextro form rotating the ray to the 

 right, the Isevo form to the left, and the race- 

 mic form not at all. When these acids were 

 subjected in separate solutions to the actions 

 of Penicillium glaucum fermentation pro- 

 ceeded in the dextro form, but not in the Isevo 

 form, while in the solution of the racemic 

 acid, which is a mixture of the dextro and 

 Iebvo acids, the dextro form disappeared, leav- 

 ing the Isevo moiety unaffected. All three 

 acids have the same chemical composition and 

 chemical properties, but differ strikingly in 

 their effects on polarized light and in nutri- 

 tive properties. Identical or corresponding 

 peculiarities have since been recorded in rela- 

 tion to a large number of substances. Thus, 

 of the twelve known forms of hexoses, or glu- 

 coses, only the dextro forms are fermentable. 



