Abstract
Many theories as to the origin of casein in milk have been discussed in the past and for the present we have no positive experimental evidence of the origin of this important constituent of the milk. The theory of Basch that casein is formed by an action of the nucleic acid of the mammary gland upon the protein of the blood plasma has been shown to be untenable by the researches of Mandel and Levene and by Loebisch upon the nucleic acid of the mammary glands.
In order to determine, if possible, the relationship of the cell substance of the glands to the casein, I prepared the nucleoprotein of the glands according to Hammarsten's method and purified the product by solution in sodium carbonate and reprecipitation with acetic acid several times. The product obtained on purification differed materially as shown below from the same product reported by Odenius and prepared by the same method.
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