Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 327 



that it is by the hepatic veins, and them alone, that the sugar is 

 conveyed into the general circulation ; and 2nd, that when the he- 

 patic veins carry sugar, the tissue of the liver is also saturated with 

 it in a high proportion. No other organ of the body is in the same 

 condition ; so that the constant presence of the saccharine principle 

 is distinctive of the tissue of the liver during digestion. These facts 

 have been proved by a very great number of direct experiments, 

 and confirmed in a variety of animals belonging to nearly every order 

 of the zoological series. Without entering on details, I shall enu- 

 merate the species on which my investigations have been made. 



On man, in the state of health, I have three times had the oppor- 

 tunity of ascertaining the presence of sugar in the liver ; first on the 

 body of an executed criminal ; next in an individual killed acci- 

 dentally by a gun-shot ; and lastly, in a case of sudden death. 



In the class Mammalia: — Quadrumana — the cynocephalous ape. 

 Carnivora — dog, cat, hedgehog, mole. Rodentia — squirrel, guinea- 

 pig, rabbit, hare, black rat, and brown rat. Ruminantia — goat, sheep, 

 ox. Pachyder^mata — horse, ass, pig. 



Birds. Rapaces — hawk, owl, strix and ulula. Passeres — swallow, 

 sparrow, raven, lark. Gallinacea — pigeon, turkey, cock. Gralla — 

 snipe. Palmipedes — goose, duck. 



Reptiles. Chelonian — land- tortoise. Saurian — green lizard and 

 gray lizard. Ophidian — anguis fragilis, coluber, and common viper. 

 Batrachian — common frog, grenouille rousse, red frog, brown toad, 

 aquatic salamander or triton. 



Fishes. — Osseous. Acanthopterygian-^common perch, labrax, 

 thunny. Abdominal Malacopter^mn —common carp, barbel, leuciscus, 

 common trout. Suh -branchial Wtdacopterygian — cod, turbot. Apo- 

 dous Malacopterygian — common eel, conger-eel. 



Chondropterygian or Cartilaginous Fishes. Sturiones — sturgeon, 

 Selacian — sea- dog. 



MoUusca. Gasteropodous— pulmonary — the red slug, gray slug, 

 common snail, fresh- water snail. Pectinibranchiata — paludina vivi- 

 para. Acephalous MoUusca or Lamellibranchiata — the edible oyster, 

 pecten, mussel, anodont and unio. 



Among the Articulata, I have detected sugar in the liver of some 

 decapodous Crustacea, as the crawfish and lobster ; but in this branch 

 of the animal kingdom the organs of nutrition undergo such profound 

 modifications that the determination of the liver would lead to un- 

 necessary discussion. 



The numerous researches cited above have all been made on ani- 

 mals in full health, and during digestion, or shortly after it. They 

 are, I think, sufficient to prove that the presence of sugar in the liver 

 is a general fact, both in man and in all animals evidently provided 

 with that organ. 



In proportion as the act of digestion draws to a close, the quan- 

 tity of sugar poured by the hepatic veins into the general circulation 

 gradually diminishes ; and at the same time the tissue of the liver 

 eliminates by degrees all the saccharine matter which it contained. 

 But in warm-blooded animals which are in good health, and in the 

 usual conditions of supply of food, there is never complete absence 



