The catalytic activity of up to fifteen enzymes was investigated in the liver, heart, skeletal muscle, kidney (medulla, cortex), brain, lung, duodenum, spleen and pancreas from man and animals. Human specimens were obtained from autopsies and immediately post-mortem from dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice. The differences between our results and previous reports of considerably lower activities for structural enzymes (e.g. creatine kinase) and for enzymes partly of mitochondrial origin (e.g. glutamate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, malate dehydrogenase), is attributed to our use of a detergent extraction technique. The superiority of the detergent technique with regard to enzyme yield is exemplified by a comparison of various methods of extraction in rat liver, heart and skeletal muscle. Use of standardized assays allows a qualitative inter-species comparison of results. The influence of autolysis on catalytic activity of human autopsies is considered of minor importance.