The distribution of the free amino acids and related compounds that occur in the seeds of Lathyrus has been described previously (Bell, 1962a(Bell, , 1964a were found in varying amounts in all the seeds, the 11 compounds that occurred in highest concentration and formed the characteristic associations were not 'protein' amino acids. One of them was P-(y-glutamylamino)propionitrile (Schilling & Strong, 1954), a second was lathyrine (Bell, 1961), an amino acid of unknown structure, and a third was a new natural amino acid, tentatively identified from Rp values as homoarginine. The remaining eight compounds were unidentified.High concentrations (frequently more than 1% of the dry weight) of one or more of these compounds were found in the seeds of all but four of the species examined, and it was suggested that 'the most likely explanation of the associations found in the various groups is that the compounds con-104

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