[VoL 2 
IP ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 
ilated in the hexose form and that sucrose must be split by 
invertase before becoming available. It is a well-known fact 
that diverse fresh-water algae can be grown in pure culture 
on media where asparagin and peptone are sources of 
nitrogen. It is hardly conceivable that the large protein 
molecule is assimilated directly and, a priori, this would argue 
for the presence of both an ereptase and a desamidizing 
enzyme. 
ENZYMES FOUND IN THE MARINE ALGAE 
Few workers have demonstrated enzymes present in either 
the fresh- or salt-water algae. Fischer (’05), working on the 
storage carbohydrates of Anabaena and Oscillatoria, found 
that the specific carbohydrate involved, which he named ana- 
baenin, disappeared when the algal tissue was autolysed at 
40°C. Microchemical tests showed glycogen split off. The 
action here, if it be due to ferments of the alga, is interest- 
ing in that the action was inhibited by .1 per cent acetic acid, 
by 1 per cent carbolic acid, and still more strangely, by con- 
centrations of ethyl alcohol as low as 5 per cent. One per 
cent carbolic acid is quite often used as an antiseptic in enzyme 
experimentation, and the resistance of enzymes to even high 
concentrations of aleohol is common knowledge. No attempt 
was made to isolate the enzyme or to carry on experiments 
outside the cell. 
Teodoresco (712) found that Chlamydomonas in pure cul- 
ture gave rise to an extracellular enzyme that decomposed 
sodium nucleate with the liberation of phosphorus. Later, 
(712°) he demonstrated nucleases present in certain ‘‘blue- 
greens,’’ ‘‘browns,’’ and ‘‘reds.’’ Unfortunately, differences 
in methods do not permit a true comparison of activity with 
that of the nuclease isolated by Dox (’10) from Penicilliwm 
camemberti, nor with that determined by Zaleski (’07) in the 
growing tips of Vicia faba, yet even a crude comparison is in- 
teresting. Dox added 2 grams of mold powder to 100 ce. of a 
2 per cent solution of yeast nucleic acid, and maintaining his 
flasks at a temperature of 35-37°C. for forty-five days, found 
51 milligrams of phosphorus (calculated as phosphoric acid) 
liberated. Teodoresco used a .5 per cent solution of sodium 
