109 
Vines.— The Proteases of Plants ( V ). 
reaction; bottles, of 30 cc. each, were prepared as follows: No. 1, H 2 0 -extract 
alone; No. 2, 30 cc. H 2 0 -extract with 0-3 grm. Witte-peptone and 0-2 grm. fibrin; 
No. 3, NaCl-extract alone; No. 4, NaCl-extract with 0.3 grm. Witte-peptone and 
0-2 grm. fibrin : some HCN was added to each bottle. After 24 hours’ digestion the 
results were : — 
Tiyptophane-reaction. 
Fibrin. 
No. j, 
faint 
„ 2, 
distinct 
attacked 
}j 3 > 
>5 
>, 4 , 
marked 
gone. 
0-3 grm. fibrin was put into No. 4 : after 24 more hours’ digestion — 
No. 1, marked 
,, 2, strong nearly gone 
„ 3, marked 
„ 4, strong gone. 
These results afford evidence of autolysis, of fibrin-digestion, and of the 
peptolysis of Witte-peptone ; fibrin-digestion was, as usual, more actively 
carried on by the NaCl-extract. 
I found that seeds which had been kept moist for about two days at 
room-temperature gave more active extracts ; and that an extract of 
seedlings three days old digested fibrin rapidly. 
Corylus avellana. 20 grms. of ground kernels were put into each of two bottles 
with 80 cc. distilled water, and to one bottle 0-2 grm. fibrin was added. The fibrin 
gradually diminished, and at the end of 72 hours there was scarcely any left; both 
bottles then gave marked tryptophane-reaction. 
Ricinus communis . 10 grms. ungerminated seed (without testa) were extracted 
with 100 cc. H 2 0 , and a similar weight with 100 cc. 2% NaCl-solution : both filtered 
extracts gave a precipitate on boiling ; about 80 cc. of each were respectively put 
into bottles with 0-2 grm. fibrin and some HCN. After 72 hours’ digestion the fibrin 
had disappeared in the NaCl-bottle, that in the H 2 0 -bottle was unaltered ; the con- 
tents of the former gave distinct tryptophane-reaction, those of the latter none ; the 
contents of both still gave a precipitate on boiling. Four days later, after a week’s 
digestion, the fibrin in the H 2 0 -bottle was breaking up, and the liquid in the bottle 
gave a distinct tryptophane-reaction ; the tryptophane-reaction of the contents of the 
NaCl-bottle was now marked ; the H 2 0 -extract gave only turbidity on boiling, but 
the NaCl-extract still gave a precipitate. 
I found that both H 2 0 and NaCl-extracts of germinated seeds (10 days) digested 
fibrin within a week, the NaCl-extract the more rapidly. 
Linum usitatissimum. 20 grms. ground ungerminated seed were extracted with 
200 cc. distilled water, and a similar weight with the same quantity of 2% NaCl- 
solution. 40 cc. of the filtered H 2 0 -extract were put into each of two bottles, to one 
of which O' 2 grm. of fibrin was added, and similarly with the NaCl-extract : HCN to 
01% was added to each bottle; the extracts gave a trace of tryptophane-reaction 
