Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1905. 
Nitrogen  in  Gums. 
259 
precipitate  finally  washed  with  alcohol  until  free  from  hydrochloric 
acid.  Nos.  13  and  14  were  prepared  by  dissolving  the  tragacanth 
in  a  warm  solution  of  sodium  hydroxide,  precipitating  with  alcohol 
and  dissolving  in  water,  and  reprecipitating  with  acidulated  alcohol. 
Each  sample  prepared  without  heat  was  tested  for  enzyme,  and 
all  were  tested  by  heating  with  potassium  hydroxide  and  testing  the 
vapor  for  alkalinity  and  by  the  pyrrol  reaction.  The  enzyme's  ac- 
tivity will  be  indicated  by  the  time  required  from  the  addition  of 
the  tincture  of  guaiac  to  the  first  appearance  of  color  and  after- 
wards to  time  required  to  produce  a  given  shade. 
Nos.  8,  9  and  1 1  did  not  become  as  dark  as  standard,  even  after 
standing  twenty-four  hours.  Heat  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
No.  12,  which  would  have  destroyed  the  enzyme  had  it  been  present. 
As  the  acids  prepared  from  active  gums  did  not  give  the  enzyme 
reaction,  it  is  evident  that  the  hydrochloric  acid  used  in  their  prepa- 
ration destroyed  the  enzyme,  but  did  not  remove  the  nitrogen. 
The  enzyme  in  a  solution  of  the  gum  from  Japanese  lac  was  rap- 
idly destroyed  by  boiling,  but  the  powder,  after  heating  for  two  hours 
at  100°  C,  was  still  more  active  than  any  of  the  other  gums  exam- 
ined. The  color  with  tincture  of  guaiac  appeared  at  once,  and  in 
five  minutes  became  dark  blue.  Another  sample,  when  heated  for 
two  hours  at  120°  C,  required  ten  minutes  to  produce  the  same  deep 
blue  shade.  A  third  sample,  heated  for  two  hours  at  1400  C,  re- 
quired ten  minutes  to  produce  any  color,  but  became  dark  blue  in 
thirty  minutes.  A  fourth  sample,  after  heating  for  two  hours  at 
1600  C,  was  inactive. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
That  all  gums  contain  nitrogen,  either  in  combination  or  in  inti- 
mate association. 
That  all  true  soluble  gums  possess  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  the 
properties  of  enzymes. 
By  comparing  the  strength  of  the  pyrrol  reaction  with  the  activity 
of  the  enzyme,  it  appears  that  the  activity  of  the  enzyme  in  gums 
varies  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  nitrogen  present. 
That  if  enzymes  and  gums  are  two  distinct  substances,  there  is 
at  present  no  known  method  of  separation. 
That  since  gums  or  the  acids  prepared  from  them  cannot  be  ob- 
tained entirely  free  from  nitrogen,  it  follows  that  previous  elementary 
