having only
the same lipolytic activity as four to five parts of castor seeds.

The high percentage of free acids found in rice oil has led C. A. Brown,
jun. (_Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc._, 1903, 25, 948-954), to examine the rice
bran, which proves to have considerable enzymic activity, and rapidly
effects the hydrolysis of glycerides.

The process for the utilisation of enzymic hydrolysis in the separation
of fatty acids from glycerine on the industrial scale, as originally
devised by Connstein and his collaborators, consisted in rubbing a
quantity of the coarsely crushed castor seeds with part of the oil or
fat, then adding the rest of the oil, together with acidified water
(N/10 acetic acid). The quantities employed were 6-1/2 parts of
decorticated castor beans for every 100 parts of oil or fat, and 50 to
60 parts of acetic acid. After stirring until an emulsion is formed, the
mixture is allowed to stand for twenty-four hours, during which
hydrolysis takes place. The temperature is then raised to 70 deg.-80 deg. C.,
which destroys the enzyme, and a 25 per cent. solution of sulphuric
acid, equal in amount to one-fiftieth of the total quantity of fat
originally taken, added to promote separation of the fatty acids. In
this way three layers are formed, the one at the top consisting of the
clear fatty acids, the middle one an emulsion containing portions of the
seeds, fatty acids and glycerine, and the bottom one consisting of the
aqueous glycerine. The intermediate layer is difficult to treat
satisfactorily; it is generally washed twice with water, the washings
being added to glycerine water, and the fatty mixture saponified and the
resultant soap utilised.

The process has been the subject of a considerable amount of
investigation, numerous attempts having been made to actually separate
the active fat-splitting constituent of the seeds, or to obtain it in a
purer and more concentrated form than is furnished by the seeds
themselves. Nicloux (_Comptes Rendus_, 1904, 1112, and _Roy. Soc.
Proc._, 1906, 77 B, 454) has shown that the hydrolytic activity of
castor seeds is due entirely to the cytoplasm, which it is possible to
separate by mechanical means from the aleurone grains and all other
cellular matter. This active substance, which he terms "lipaseidine," is
considered to be not an enzyme, though it acts as such, following the
ordinary laws of enzyme action; its activity is destroyed by contact
with water in the absenc