7g6 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



"The creatin content of muscle showed a marked decrease (over 60 per cent) 

 as a result of fasting, while the nitrogen content of similar muscle was but 

 slightly lowered. This pronounced decrease of creatin found by us in fasting 

 muscle is a most significant fact and shows clearly that in fasting we can not, 

 with accuracy, consider the total amount of excreted creatin as resulting from 

 the complete and permanent disintegration of muscular tissue. It appears 

 that the creatin of the urine is derived either from disintegrating muscular 

 tissue or Is removed in some manner from such tissues which are still func- 

 tioning within the body. 



"As a result of our experiments we have shown that in repeated fasting there 

 is a slower and less profound tissue disintegration during the second fast, 

 indicating a greater resistance of the body acquired as a result of the initial 

 fast. This increased resistance, noted in our experiments, following fasting 

 may indicate that the 'repeated fast,' if properly regulated, may possess 

 important therapeutic properties." 



The effect upon the glycog'en content of the liver of feeding different 

 kinds of sugar, H. Haffmans {Uher den Einfluss der Futterung verschiedener 

 Zuckerarten auf den Glijlwgengehalt der Leher. Inaug. Diss., Univ. Bern, 1910, 

 pp. 60). — The experiments reported were made with dogs. 



Considering the amount of glycogen in the liver of the control animal as 1, 

 the relative amounts of glycogen accumulated S hours after feeding the different 

 sugars were as follows : Sacchrose, 2.8.3 ; lactose, 1.2.5 : dextrose. 4.06 ; maltose, 

 1.47; galactose, 1.43; and levulose, 2.99. On the same basis of comparison, 

 in a 16-hour period, the amounts ranged from 1..51 with levulose to 5.16 with 

 saccharose, while in an 8-day period the values were 4.08 for saccharose, 1.39 

 for lactose, and 3.63 for dextrose. 



Concerning the metabolism of phosphorus in the animal body, F. Rogozin- 

 SKi {Bui. Internat. Acad. Sci. Cracovie, CI. Sci. Math, et Nat., Ser. B, 1910, 

 No. 4, pp. 260-312; ais. in Chem. ZentU., 1910, II, No. 20, p. 1549).— In experi- 

 ments with dogs it was not found that sodium phosphate, phytin, or lecithin 

 exercised any appreciable effect upon the renal excretion of nitrogen or upon 

 nitrogen or phosphoric acid gains. 



The phosphoric acid of the sodium phosphate and lecithin underwent cleavage 

 in the body and apparently was excreted quantitatively in the urine as inor- 

 ganic phosphate. Of the phosphoric acid of phytin only about 30 per cent 

 appeared in the urine, the remainder being apparently excreted unchanged in 

 the feces. On the other hand, in experiments with man phytin apparently 

 undergoes complete cleavage in the digestive tract ; owing in part to the action 

 of the intestinal bacteria. This conclusion was reached since the author found 

 that hi experiments in vitro the phosphoric acid was thus split off from the 

 phytin present in feces. A small part of the phosphoric acid of phytin is 

 apparently retained by man, while the remainder is excreted in the feces as 

 inorganic phosphate. When phytin was taken per os inosit was not identified 

 in the urine. 



An inquiry into some chemical factors of fatigue, W. Bukeidge (Jour. 

 Physiol, 41 {1910), No. 5, pp. 285-307, figs. 8).— lu a study of the effects of 

 different substances on fatigue, the author found that the motor nerve endings 

 of the muscle were more susceptible to the action of each of the possible fatigue 

 substances examined than was the case with any of the other elements in a 

 muscle and nex've preparation. 



" Evidence has been brought forward for believing that free circulating potas- 

 sium salts, having their origin in working muscles, form an important factor in 

 the general fatigue observable after heavy work." 



