100 YEARS AGO

Catalase is the name given to a new enzyme of general occurrence described by Dr. Oscar Loew in Report (No. 68) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology) with special reference to the tobacco plant. This enzyme possesses the power of producing catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, a decomposition which, according to the author's experiments, is probably not produced by any other known enzyme. The enzyme appears to exist in an insoluble and in a soluble form, which are designated α- and β-catalase respectively... Experiments on the nature of catalase indicate that it is an oxidising enzyme, the most characteristic reaction studied in this direction being its rapid oxidation of hydroquinone to quinone. Numerous tests have established the general occurrence of catalase in the vegetable kingdom. No living plant or vegetable organ tested was found free from it, some plants containing more of the soluble, others more of the insoluble, form. In the animal kingdom it also appears to be widely distributed.

From Nature 4 July 1901.

50 YEARS AGO

A situation provoking speculation has been found during the course of a preliminary investigation of one-shear (1½-year old) rams offered for sale at the Feilding Stud Ram Fair... Data used in these analyses were derived from the catalogues of the 1948, 1949 and 1950 sales and the 1948 Flock Book of the New Zealand Romney Marsh Breed Society. Of the 612 rams offered for sale in the three years, 52.6 per cent were sired either by lambs or by one-shear rams. The offspring of the one-shear rams brought the highest average price and had a lower rejection-rate than any other age... However, Goot has shown that one-shear sires comprise only 27.8 per cent of the sires available for use in those flocks static in numbers and consisting of 400 or more ewes. Selection of rams for the Stud Fair and for single-entry in the Flock Book is almost solely on phenotype and certainly without reference to age of the parents, nor does this latter point interest buyers. Because of this, it would be expected that the sires of rams chosen for single-entry and for sale would be represented in the same proportion as they are used in the flocks... Further analyses are planned to throw more light on these rather perplexing problems.

From Nature 7 July 1951.