UNORGANIZED CELL-CONTENTS. 
35 
instances, as in the curing of tobacco and fermenta- 
tion of vanilla, they may not only separate from the 
protoplasm, but may occur as a result of the decom- 
position or disintegration of the protoplasm itself. 
These principles are found in the cells of all the 
different parts of the plant, and may or may not be 
found in the cells containing the substances upon 
which they have a special action. 
The microchemical study of the ferments is attended 
with certain difficulty on account of the lack of any 
specific reagents for their detection. The most that 
can be done is to study the products formed by their 
action upon certain other constituents of the cell. The 
ferments possess a peculiarity in that they require 
specific temperatures for their action, as, for example, 
emulsin or sinaptase, which decomposes a number of 
the glucosides, acts at a temperature of 35° to 40° C., 
while diastase, the ferment of germinating seeds, 
requires a somewhat higher temperature, namely, 
50° to 70° C. 
Ferments may be classified according as to whether 
they require oxygen or water for their reaction with 
other substances. The former are rather limited in 
number, and include laccase, found in the lacquer 
trees, and those which produce nitric fermentation in 
nature. The latter or hydrolytic ferments include 
diastase, which acts on starch, changing it into dex- 
trose; inulase, which acts on inuliu, producing lsevu- 
lose ; pectase, acting on pectin, producing vegetable 
jellies; emulsin or sinaptase, which decomposes amyg- 
dalin, arbutin, salicin and other glucosides ; myrosin, 
which acts on the glucoside, sinigrin (potassium 
myronate), producing the essential oil of mustard and 
papain, the proteolytic enzyme of Carica papaya. 
