Further observations on enterochlorophyll, and allied pigments / by C.A. Mac Munn.

  • MacMunn, Charles Alexander, 1852-1911.
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Further observations on enterochlorophyll, and allied pigments / by C.A. Mac Munn. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Y. Further Observations on Enterochlorophyll, and Allied Pigments. By C. A. Mac Munn, M.A., M.D. Communicated by Professor M. Foster, Sec.R.S. Received April 21,—Read April 30, 1885. [Plates 9, 10.] In a paper, read before the Royal Society in 1883,# I described the results of an examination of the so-called “ bile ” of invertebrates, and proved that the alcohol extracts of the “ liver,” or other appendage of the intestine answering to it, showed a spectrum so like that of vegetable chlorophyll as to have led me to conclude that no essential difference exists between the spectrum of enterochlorophyll and plant chlorophyll. At that time I could not decide the points which are now considered. The object of the present investigation was to determine:—(1) Whether entero- chlorophyll is due to the presence of symbiotic algae or not; (2) whether it is an immediate food-product and merely an instance of the intracellular digestion of food chlorophyll; (3) if it is not derived from either of these sources, is it built up by and in the liver of the animal yielding it? (4) in what points does it differ from plant chlorophyll and the chlorophyll of Spongilla f I believe I can prove the absence of symbiotic algae, the absence of food-products, the animal origin of the pigment, and that it yields, at least in some cases, similar decomposition-products to plant chlorophyll. This evidence is not based on spectro- scopic examination only, but also on the study of the morphology of enterochlorophyll and on the absence of starch and cellulose. At the same time I do not wish to appear too confident as to the purely animal origin of the pigment in all cases. Spectrum of Chlorophyll in a Living Leaf and in an Animal containing Chlorophyll built up by itself What is the spectrum of chlorophyll in a living leaf? To enable one to reply to this question a suitable method of examination must be adopted, and I may say at * Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. 35 (1883), p. 370. 2 H 2