140 The Ottawa Naturalist 1 [September 



During" this period (59 days) the amount of protein digested 

 was sufficient to form at the most 17. i lbs. of tat, and the fat in 

 the food which was assimulated amounted to only 3.3 lbs., so that 

 the total possible amount of fat from protein and ready formed fat 

 was 20.4 lbs. The milk from the cow during that period con- 

 tained 38.8 lbs. of fat. so that at least 18.4 lbs. of fat must 

 necessarily have been derived from carbohydrates. 



Strange it seems, does it not, that I should be proving to you 

 that fat 7niist be derived from carbohydrates without having first 

 told you whether it \s possible for carbohydrates to be transformed 

 into fat. 



In this I have followed the emperical method which first 

 establishes a fact and then endeavours to explain it. 



The observations of Hanriot and Richet, two French scientists 

 of wide reputation, furnish indirect proofs of the transformation of 

 the carbohydrates into f;it. These observers found that with the 

 administration of the carbohydrate food there is a greatly increased 

 output of CO2 without a corresponding increase of oxygen intake. 

 This fact Hanriot explained by a transformation of carbohydrates 

 into fats in conformity with such an equation as the following : — 



13 (Ce Ht. OJ = C55 H,,, Oe + 23CO2 + 26H,0. 

 • (Oleo-stearo-palmitin) 



Fat therefore ca7i and is derived from the three distinct classes 

 of compounds absorbed for the purpose of nourishing the body. 

 We can satisfactorily explain how the fat of the food can be 

 transformed into the fat of the body, but how this formation occurs 

 from protein and carbohydrates is still a problem unsolved. It is 

 one of those secrets which the Creator has not yet revealed to any 

 human being. May we not hope that, as there are at present so 

 many scientific investigations in the field of physiological chemistry 

 in various parts of the civilized world, there may be worked out 

 ere long- a satisfactory solution of these complex problems ? 



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