On the Fruits and Seeds of Rhamnus . 1 1 
action of the substance contained in the seed which converted 
the glucoside into glucose and another substance has been de- 
stroyed by heat, and consequently that substance is a ferment. 
There was thus a ferment in the seed which broke up the 
glucoside contained in the pericarp and endocarp. I then 
proceeded to find out in what part of the seed this ferment 
was contained. The testa was stripped off a number of seeds 
and digested at the usual temperature for an hour ; a clear 
solution was obtained, which was added to a solution of the 
pericarp, obtained by digestion as before, and a copious yellow 
precipitate was obtained in about twenty minutes. The 
solution obtained from the testa on digestion was boiled for 
ten minutes and added to the solution of the pericarp ; after 
twenty-four hours no precipitate was obtained. The filtrate 
in the first instance yielded a precipitate with Fehling’s solu- 
tion, but none was obtained in the second. Hence the 
ferment, the action of which was destroyed by boiling, ap- 
peared to be contained in the testa. 
The rest of the seed was taken and digested, and the solu- 
tion obtained was added to a solution of the pericarp ; in 
about an hour a copious yellow precipitate was obtained, and 
the filtrate from this precipitate gave glucose-reactions. Hence 
the ferment, the action of which was also destroyed by boiling 
in this case, is also contained in the rest of the seed either in 
the embryo or endosperm, or both. 
The embryos of a number of seeds were dissected out and 
digested as usual, and the solution obtained from them was 
added to the solution of the pericarp ; after a few hours a 
yellow precipitate was again obtained, the filtrate from which 
yielded a precipitate on warming with Fehling’s solution. 
Hence the ferment appeared to be contained in the embryo. 
The endosperm was removed from a number of seeds and 
digested for twenty-four hours, at a temperature of 25 °C., and 
to the solution obtained was added the solution obtained by 
digesting the testa, and the mixture was allowed to stand for 
twenty-four hours at the same temperature ; at the end of 
the time no precipitate was obtained, and the solution gave no 
