137 
blooded animals have a greater catalrtie activity than those of cold- 
blooded animals, such as the fish. In 1899 Carriere ( 112 ) examined 
a number of normal and pathological secretions for indirect oxidases 
(peroxidases and catalases). He obtained no evidence of catalase 
in the urine of 10 normal persons, nor in the urines of persons suffering 
from diabetes, hysteria, or chlorosis. On the other hand, in nephritis 
(Bright’ ^ disease), tuberculosis, and in acute inflammation of the 
lungs, the urine was found to decompose hydrogen peroxide. With 
other normal and pathological liquids his results are not sufficiently 
numerous to permit of any general conclusions. 
The catalytic power of the blood toward hydrogen peroxide in nor- 
mal and diseased conditions has also been investigated by Jolles ( 227,228 ) 
and later by Jolles and Oppenheim ( 229 ) . According to these observers 
the catalase of blood is contained exclusively in the formed elements, 
and is roughly proportional to the hemoglobin. They have deter- 
mined the quantity of hydrogen peroxide in grams which is decom- 
posed by 1 cubic centimeter of blood in normal and diseased condi- 
tions; this they have designated as the “ catalase value." For normal 
blood this was found to be 23, whereas for blood in certain diseased 
conditions the catalase value was considerably less than for normal 
blood; thus in tuberculosis it ranged from 10 to 13, and in nephritis 
from 8 to 13, the most interesting and remarkable decrease occurring 
in carcinomatous conditions, in which condition the catalase values 
of the blood fall to 1.3 to 2.1. The blood of the two sexes and venous 
and arterial blood exhibited no differences in catalytic power. 
Still more recently Winternitz and Meloy ( 454 ) have studied the 
occurrence of catalase in the human blood and tissues and its varia- 
tion in certain diseases. These authors have reached the conclusion 
that there is no marked variation in the catalytic activity of human 
tissues due to the age of the individual. In this same connection, 
Mendel and Leavenworth ( 298 ) observed that catalase does not seem 
to be less abundant in very voung embrvos than in the adult. Win- 
ternitz and Meloy (supra) found the catalytic activity of the tissues 
to vary greatly in certain diseased conditions; thus in nephritis the 
activity fell off, especially in the kidney itself. In two cases of 
eclampsia the catalytic activity of the blood was not reduced. In 
pneumonia, the lung, in the stage of red hepatization, was found to 
have an increased catalytic activity, due in all probability to the 
increased number of red blood cells. In tuberculosis a decrease in 
the catalytic power of the various tissues was observed, but there 
was no reduction in diabetes mellitus nor in jaundice. The tissues 
in one case of congenital syphilis showed a marked lowering in cata- 
lytic activity, as did also the blood in one case of asphyxiation by 
illuminating gas. 
