1202 Stoward.—Amyloclastic Secretory Capacities of the 
resulting in a very small reduction in the mass of the inner 
endosperm and the appearance of smaller amounts of reducing 
sugars in the culture substratum. There is, moreover, an entire 
absence of any obvious evidence of cell-wall or cytoplasmic 
disintegration, and the dissolution of starch, which appears to be 
confined to the more minute grains, is unaccompanied by any 
signs of erosive dissolution. 
Although augmentation of amylase invariably occurs in both types 
of objects, that of the endosperm is superior to that of the inner endosperm ; 
yet in the former complete depletion occurs, while in the latter it only 
advances to a stage which falls very far short of complete depletion. In 
other words, no proportionality or apparent relationship exists between the 
enzyme-augmentation capacity of the inner endosperm and the amount of 
self-digestion it is capable of inducing in its starch reserves as they exist 
in situ. 
The capacity which a tissue such as the inner endosperm may pos¬ 
sess of augmenting enzyme in its cells is of subordinate importance for 
the question of endospermic depletion, unless it can be shown that the 
enzyme it generates is capable of attacking the starch reserves as they 
exist in situ in the inner endosperm of the steeped seed. The fact that the 
amylase of the resting grain or of the inner endosperm of the steeped seed 
(which are regarded as being identical) readily liquefies and hydrolyses 
starch paste cannot be accepted as a criterion of the possible r 61 e this 
enzyme may play in endospermic depletion. 
3. Comparative experiments with endosperms and inner endosperms 
subjected during the entire period of culture to the action of chloroform or 
nitrobenzene, and .comparison of the results with those of similarly conducted 
non-anaesthetized objects (cf. 2), demonstrate very clearly that— 
(a) the augmentation of amylase by the endosperm undergoes marked 
reduction, being reduced to the same order of magnitude as that 
of the inner endosperm ; 
(b) the augmentation of amylase by the inner endosperm is unaffected, 
i, e. it is of the same order of magnitude as that of non- 
anaesthetized inner endosperms ; 
(c) anaesthetized endosperms, unlike non-anaesthetized endosperms, 
are incapable of inducing complete auto-depletion of their 
reserve storage materials. There is an entire absence of erosive 
dissolution of starch grains, of cytoclastic action ; the aleurone 
layer remains closely adherent to the underlying tissue, and the 
amounts of reducing sugars found in substrate and objects are 
of the same order of magnitude as in experiments with anaesthe¬ 
tized and non-anaesthetized inner endosperms. 
The above results are interpreted as being directly due to the 
