Glucose and gluconic acid oxidases of three types of oxidative bacteria were studied by Zunberg method.
(1) A. suboxydans, which oxidizes glucose to gluconic acid and gluconic acid to 5-ketogluconic acid, has powerfull glucose oxidase, and the gluconic acid oxidase appeares later.
(2) Ps. gluconicum, which oxidizes glucose to gluconic acid, has glucose oxidase but not so active as A. suboxidans. The gluconic acid oxidase is absent.
(3) Ps. f luorescens, which oxidizes glucoses to gluconic acid and glucnoic acid to 2-ketogluconic acid, has powerfull gluconic acid oxidase, but the glucose oxidase is very poor.
(4) Glucose and gluconic acid oxidase of S. marcescens, which oxidizes glucose to 2-ketoglu-conic acid by submerged culture, are not detectable. Author thinks that oxidases of this bacteria ate not so constitutive as others.

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As the result of studies on Pseudomonas and Serratia, the author concludes as follows:
(1) Some of them have oxidative activities, but they are very low as compared with Aceto-bacter and Gluconobacter.
(2) Their activities are very variable and often disappear. This sugests that these are not so constitutive as that of Acetobacter and Gluconobacter.
(3) Their biological characteristics are very different from Acetobacter and Gluconobacter, these are easily detectable.
(4) It is better to call them as “Pseudooxidative bacteria” when their oxidative characteristics are discussed.

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[in Japanese]

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Alcohol yields by selected strains of Black Asp. were higher than those by yelllow Asp., and a special conversion process was unnecessary.
Therefore the yeast was inoculated and propagated in mold culture liquor, and this liquor was added to cooled sweet potato-mashes.
Alcohol fermentation finished in three days at 30°C, and the efficiency of alcoholic fermentation was about 80_??_85%.

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(1) Concerning differances of the enzyme activities of the leaves occupying differient positions on the start, we note that the activites of amylase and peroxidase are higher as their positions on the stalk are lower, but the activities of invertase and catalase are higher as their positions on the stalk are higher.
(2) After topping the activities of amylase, invertase, and peroxidase lowered temporarily, but those of topped tobacco became higher than those of non-topped tobacco at the ripening-stage. As for the activity of catalase, non-topped tobacco showed always higher activity than topped tobacco.
(3) Concerning the changes of the enzyme activities of leaf tobacco at the ripening-stage in a day, we note, that activities of amylase and invertase are highest at 12 p.m., and lowest, at 1 p.m. The activity of catalase is highest at 6 a.m., and decreases gradually. The activity of peroxidase is lowest at 6 a.m., and becomes higher gradually.
(4) The activities of amylase and peroxidase of leaf tobacco are higher as the ripeness pro-ceeds, while the activities of invertase and catalase are dower as the ripeness proceeds.

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(1) Generally speaking, amylase activity of leaf tobacco becomes high in the process of flue curing, but it becomes lower temporarily at the middle stage. However, after flue curing it is about three times high than before flue curing.
(2) Invertase activity of leaf tobacco in the process of flue curing becomes higher than before flue curing, but becomes lower temporarily at the last stage. However, after flue curing, the activity remains simlar as before flue curing.
(3) Catalase activity of leaf tobacco in the process of flue curing becomes high at the early stage, but it becomes obviously lower at the last stage. However, after flue curing it decreases less than one third when compared with the activity before flue curing.
(4) Peroxidase activity of leaf tobacco in the proccess of flue curing becomes high at the early stage, but it becomes obviously lower at the last stage. However, after flue curing it decreases less than one tenth when compared with the activity before flue curing.

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The author has ensiled hairy vetches, chickweeds, unused leaves of cabbages and chinese milk-vetches and estimated organic acids and pH values of the silage made. observing carefully changes during the preparation of silage.
When Vicia with lower content of moisture (71%) is ensiled under the suitable pressure, free lactic acid in the silage will be increased to about 1% in a week. The so-called mature state of silage was observed in about 10 days after the ensiling.
It has seemed to him that the formation of lactic acid to this level will prevent butyric acid fermentation, in the silage. The result obtained in present investigation will be regarded as a type of fermentation and of nutritional loss in the good silage.
When mineral acid is added to the material at the time of ensiling, progress to the stable state of silage seems to be rapidly promoted within a week.

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Several methods of preparing Ca-_D-lactobionate have already been found by many investigators, but few of them appear to be so simple as the authors'. The authors present a new simple method, which enables us to obtain the product in higher yield and purity (yield 80.8%, bromine 0.27%), by using sodium bicarbonate as a preventing agent against the decomposition of lactose in the bromine-oxidation.

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To find a suitable method for separating tea tannin compound by means of paper chromato-graphy, we researched on developing solvents, and selected n-butanol saturated with water as the most favorable developing material among 7 solvents used, e.g., ethyl acetate, n-butanol, iso-butan-ol, amyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, phenol and toluene.
We examined developing temperature and water content of the developing solvent, andfound that the temperature had little influence upon the R_F values of tannin spots below 20° and the solvent saturated with water was better than that of lower water content.
We compared tannin composition of 3 tea varieties, i.e. C-8, 3 U-17 and Yabukita, and found that the tannin composition of Yabukita variety was clearly different from that of other two varieties.

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1. Action of Black-koji-amylase on raw starch is specially stronger than that of Yellow-kojiand Malt-amylase.
2. Raw starches of various origin are treated with Black-koji-amylase and their saccharification velocities are found to be in the following order:
Maize>Wheat>>Acorn>Squill>Kuzu>Dog-tooth violet>Sweet potato>Oat bulbed lily>Lycoris>Brake>Snake gourd>Cycad>Yam>Potato

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Amino acids were prepared by shaking an aqueous solution of ammonia and pyruvic acid or levulinic acid in the presence of Raney nickel at room temperature. The formation of amino acids is due to the action of hydrogen absorbed in Raney nickel. As the results, alanine and γ-aminovaleric acid were obtained respectirely.
One of the author's⁽¹⁰⁾ has reported previously that ammonium formate is decomposed into hydrogen, ammonia and carbon dioxide, when heated in the presence of Raney nickel. Using this hydrogen, amino acids were prepared from keto acids. Namely, an aqueous solution containing ammonium salts of keto acid and formic acid was boiled in the presence of Raney nickel. Alanine was also obtained in this case.

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The authors have contrived an improved method for the Pregl's micro nitrogen determinati-on (micro-Dumas). This method has been used for the analysis of a number of organic compounds and has given satisfactory results for about ten years in our laboratory.
The plan and elevation of our apparatus are shown in the figure. The main improved points are as follows:
(1) The special azotometer (Az₂) was newly designed in order to examine the remaining air easily.
(2) A copper boat was contrived for combusting the substance.
(3) In the combustion tube, copper-oxid layer was increased than Gysel's and reduced-copper gauzes were used in two layers.
It takes about 50_??_55 minutes for one analysis, and the error is within ±0.2% as the table shows.

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The chemical nature and components of esperin, which is a newly isolated antibiotic produced by a variety of B. mesentericus, have been studied and a liquid fatty acid, dl-leucine, l-aspartic acid and l-valine were isolated as its components, and identified through their derivatives. It was also determined by the paper chromatography that esperin (or esperin X) contained only these three amino acids and did not contain other amino acids.
Esperin X which has been derived from esperin as crystalline form by alkali has lower melting point, less toxicity and less antibacterial property against M. tuberculosis than esperin.

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