B uller . — The Enzymes of Polyporus squamosus , Huds. 57 
Fernbach 1 , malt contains an enzyme capable of causing the precipita- 
tion of starch from solution. It seemed to me of interest to test for 
the supposed new enzyme in the Fungus extract. 
Ten grams of some dried chips of fruit-bodies were ground up 
with ico c.c. water and an extract made. Soluble starch was then 
prepared by gelatinizing 50 gm. potato starch in 1000 c.c. boiling water 
and by then subjecting the mixture to a pressure of about two atmospheres 
for two hours in an autoclave. The experiments were made in tall 
50 c.c. glass jars. 
TABLE V. 
No. 
Soluble 
starch in c.c. 
Extract 
in c.c. 
Toluol 
in c.c. 
Result after 
Iodine reaction of clear 
solution after 
1 hr. 
20 hrs. 
1 
20 hrs. 
70 hrs. 
Experiments. 
1 
50 
I 
o-5 
no change 
no precipitate 
blue 
violet 
2 
50 
3 
o -5 
precipitate about 
1 in. high 
violet 
red 
3 
50 
10 
0.5 
dense precipitate 
nearly to top of jar 
red 
red 
Controls. 
Extract boiled. 
4 
50 
1 
0-5 
no change 
no precipitate 
blue 
blue 
5 
50 
3 
0.5 
no precipitate 
blue 
blue 
6 
5° 
10 
o*5 
no precipitate 
blue 
blue 
The above table gives an account of the experiments and the results. 
The white precipitate produced as a result of the action of the extract 
on the soluble starch gradually settled down, leaving a clear solution 
above. The precipitate, which under the microscope was found to consist 
of small particles, stained a deep blue with iodine. Exactly similar results 
were obtained in a set of experiments made like those described in the 
table but without the use of toluol. These results closely agree with 
those obtained in some preliminary experiments by acting upon soluble 
starch with malt extract under the conditions employed by Wolff and 
Fernbach 2 . If the starch precipitate is due to a special enzyme, coagulase, 
there is, therefore, reason to believe that the latter is present in the Fungus 
extract. 
The clear solution above the starch precipitate was tested with 
iodine. In the course of the experiments the clear solution was found 
1 Wolff u. Fernbach, Compt. rend., Nov. 2, 1903. 
2 loc. cit. 
