78 New combe. — Cellulose-Enzymes . 
Barley-endosperm in the shortest time ; all have taken longer 
to render the walls of the aleurone-layer of the Barley- 
endosperm hyaline ; and all have required the longest time 
to make the cotyledonary walls of Litpinus albus hyaline. 
This statement is not intended to indicate an exact similarity 
in the action of the ferments in question ; for the preceding 
pages indicate a peculiarity in the action of Aspergillus- 
extract in the manner of solution of Barley-endosperm-walls, 
and a possibly selective action of the Lupin-ferment for the 
middle lamella of the walls of the Lupin-cotyledons. But 
these minor differences have not been studied fully, and 
hence cannot be extensively considered here. 
All of the ferments with all the kinds of walls observed 
render the walls hyaline, and show full ‘ ghosts ’ before the 
walls begin to thin down or to ‘ melt 5 away. This condition 
indicates a progressive loss of substance from the walls, before 
the size decreases. That there is loss of substance from the 
walls in becoming hyaline has recently been practically 
demonstrated by Schulze 1 . 
Not less noteworthy than the last-named fact is the 
following one, that all the cell-walls used in these experi- 
ments do finally, though comparatively slowly, dissolve. Thin 
walls of the Barley-endosperm, walls of the aleurone-layer, 
walls of the Lupin-cotyledons, endosperm-walls of the Date, 
all finally wholly dissolve, and, so far as tested, all dissolve 
in each ferment used. If, as has been stated by some authors, 
some of these walls used as tests are composed partly of 
true cellulose, then these ferments can dissolve true cellulose. 
That true cellulose is not attacked at all by the extract of 
Barley-malt, as has been generally held, may be found to 
be erroneous, when a careful microscopic examination is 
made, and the test continued over a long period of time. 
It will be noted also that the active or neutral behaviour 
of an enzyme toward reserve cellulose is not conditioned by 
the strength of the enzyme-solution. The enzymes tested, 
1 Ueber die Zellwandbestandtheile der Cotyledonen, & c. : Ber. d. d. bot. 
Gesellsch., xiv (1896), 66. 
