ON GROUP SPECIFIC A SUBSTANCES

Abstract
An investigation is presented on the A substance contained in swine stomach. Preparations made by several procedures, and largely consisting of carbohydrates, were found by means of the ninhydrin method of Van Slyke and his colleagues to contain amino acids accounting for the bulk of the non-hexosamine nitrogen. As a working hypothesis the idea is advanced that amino acid structures can play a rôle in the serological specificity of haptens consisting predominantly of polysaccharides.