34 FERMENTATION, PUTREFACTION, AND DECAY 
IS THERE ANY DISTINCTION BETWEEN ORGAN- 
IZED AND UNORGANIZED FERMENTS? 
The confusion is rendered still greater by the discovery of a 
series of facts that lead to the breaking down of the distinction 
between the organized ferments and the enzymes. It will be 
noticed that these enzymes all come from living organisms, being 
secreted by them; pepsin is secreted by the gastric glands, diastase 
by cells of the grain, etc. The larger part of the enzymes listed 
above are secreted by certain plants. The power to secrete en- 
zymes is thus quite a common property of plant cells. Indeed, itis 
becoming evident that many so-called life processes are produced 
directly by enzymes secreted by animals and plants. Now, the 
action produced by the enzyme trypsin, secreted by the digestive 
glands of animals, is very similar, if not identical, with the action 
produced by certain of the bacteria when growing and acting upon 
proteid food. It is a natural question to ask if it may not be true 
that the bacteria secrete an enzyme similar to trypsin, and that 
their action upon their food is really a digestion due to the enzyme 
which they secrete. Are not both cases properly called diges- 
tion? If we can find such an enzyme in a solution where these 
bacteria have been growing for a time, it would follow that they 
must have secreted it and that their action upon the proteid food 
is due directly to the enzyme. This question will at once broaden 
into a second one, and we shall be forced to ask whether the action 
of all organized ferments may not be explained by supposing the 
living bacteria or yeasts to secrete an enzyme whose direct action 
is responsible for the fermentative change. If this be the case, 
the distinction between the organized and unorganized ferments 
disappears. The so-called organized ferments would then act in 
exactly the same way as the unorganized, the difference being 
simply that in the one case the enzyme is secreted by the active 
cells of larger animals and plants, and in the other by the active 
cells of bacteria and yeasts. 
