658 
DR. C. A. MAC MUNN ON THE CHROMATOLOGY OF ACTINIAE. 
phylls, and plant chlorophyll. I cannot, on these grounds, agree with Krukenberg* 
that it resembles the hepatochromates, which is his name for the pigment named by 
me enterochlorophyll,t nor does he by any means succeed in proving that it is a 
purely animal pigment. 
The other violet pigment referred to by Krukenberg is probably the aotinio- 
chrome of Professor Moseley. In some specimens the apices of the tentacles are 
tinged of a violet colour, which showed the actiniochrome spectrum well marked, 
spectrum 6, Chart IV. The glycerin extract of the tentacles of some specimens of 
Anthea cereus, after some days’ extraction, gives a solution which, although only 
yehowish-red, possesses a magnificent emerald-green fluorescence. I have no doubt 
that this is the pigment whose bands are seen in the almost colourless tentacle after 
removal of the yellow cells, as it gives a band in blue and in the violet, spectrum 15, 
Chart IV., besides the first. They read : 1st, A 582 to A 560 ; 2nd, A 52CP5 to A 506 ; 
3rd, A 494 - 5 to A 475. The first band probably belongs to a trace of actiniohsematin. 
That this fluorescent pigment was not a so-called “ lipochrome ” is shown by the fact 
that, on adding caustic soda, one of the bands near the violet end disappeared, while 
with acetic acid the second and third bands appeared merged into one. 
Summary and Remarks. 
The above observations show that a respiratory colouring matter is present in 
Actinia mesembryanthemum , Bunodes crassicornis, and other Actiniae. That it must 
be respiratory is shown by the fact that one of its decomposition products is capable 
of existing in a state of oxidation and reduction. That it is closely related to haemo¬ 
globin is shown by the results attending my attempts to convert it into haemochromogen 
and hsematoporphyrin, as the pigments corresponding to these, obtained from the 
above Actiniae, are undistinguishable from those obtained from haemoglobin. 
The occurrence of biliverdin in such lowly-organised animals is of great interest; it 
may probably be looked upon as excretory, and, as I said above, a part of it seems to 
be present in the state of a chromogen, as proved by the action of acids upon it. 
The discovery of biliverdin in the shells of certain mollusks by Krukenberg J 
acquires an additional interest from these observations ; but it is premature to conclude, 
as Krukenberg does, that here it is independent of the presence of hemoglobin, 
because it is possible that the pharyngeal muscles of the animals in which he found 
biliverdin may contain hemoglobin as Professor Lankester has shown to be the case in 
other mollusks ; or their tissues may contain the colouring matters which I find widely 
* Loc. cit. Krukenberg did not show that enterochlorophyll and plant chlorophyll give the same 
spectrum; he figures spectra of liver-extracts, but in no case is the fully-developed spectrum shown. 
The position of the Fraunhofer lines in most of his spectra is not quite correct. 
t Proc. Roy. Soc., No. 226, 1883 
X “ Zur Kenntniss der Genese der Gallenfarhsloffe und der Melanine.” Sep. Abdr. a. d. Centralblatt 
fiir die.med. Wiss., 1883, No. 44. 
