io Vines . — Tryptophane in Proteolysis . 
After 19 hours’ digestion in the incubator, the result was — 
Marked tryptophane-reaction in 1 and 2. 
Distinct „ „ in 3. 
Faint „ „ in 4 and 5 : 
3 and 4 had not become acid. 
Germinating Seeds. 
There is a considerable literature upon the subject of the 
proteolytic enzymes of germinating seeds, but it is not 
necessary to follow it further back than the publication of 
Green’s researches (8) on Lupinus hirsutus , L. He obtained 
from the cotyledons of seedlings four days old, a glycerine- 
extract which digested fibrin in the presence of o* 2 °/ o HC1, 
and found leucin and tyrosin to be digestive products. He 
also obtained (8 a) these results with germinating seeds of the 
Castor- Oil plant (. Ricinus communis , L.). Neumeister (9) 
subsequently detected a proteolytic enzyme in the seedlings 
of barley, poppy, wheat, maize, and rape, and ascertained 
that it is active only in acid liquids ; but the acid present 
must be organic, not mineral : in this respect his results differ 
from those of Green, a difference which may perhaps be due 
to the fact that the plants experimented upon were not the 
same. Still more recently the matter has been investigated 
by Butkewitsch (10), the seeds used being those of Lupmus 
angustifolius , L., Ltipinus luteus , L., Vicia Faba , L., and 
Ricinus major (?), with results that on the whole confirm those 
of Green. He found that, on adding water to the crushed 
seeds, the naturally acid liquid readily digested the proteids of 
the seeds ; and that this auto-digestion was less rapid when 
the liquid was rendered alkaline to the extent of o-i °/ o NaHO, 
or acid to the extent of o* 2 °/ o HC1, but more rapid in the 
presence of o-i °/ o HCN. 
Experiments with Barley ( Hordeum vulgare , L.). 
Whether or not germinated barley contains a proteolytic 
enzyme is still a debated question : some of the more recent 
observations upon it are quoted in Butkewitsch’s paper (10). 
On the whole, the balance of evidence seems to be in favour of 
