378 ELDON W. SANFORD 
Schliiter has emphasized that sugar may be synthesized to fat 
in the insect body. Such a process can in no way effect the ex- 
planation I have given of fat globules in the cells, even th ugh 
sugar was always present in the foods I fed. We have seen that 
a mixture of sugar and mineral oil used as food gave no subse- 
quent fat in the cells; if sugar could be readily synthesized to 
fat in these cells, the paste with sugar and mineral oil should 
give the same pictures as the paste with olive oil. This is not 
the case. We may conclude that all intracellular fat is derived 
from the fat of the food. 
I have obtained indirect evidence that sugar is absorbed in 
the crop. Animals which had eaten a large amount of a thick 
paste of sugar and oil were dissected after two days. The food 
matter found in the crop consisted of clear, liquid fat only. The 
sugar of the food had gone, probably through absorption by the 
cells of the crop. The experiment suggests that the absorption 
of sugar occurs rapidly and in large amounts. 
Gizzard. ‘The large teeth of the anterior gizzard would sug- 
gest a grinding function, especially since they are surrounded by 
a thick layer of circular muscles. Plateau was the first investi- 
gator of the significance of the gizzard; he came to the conclusion 
that it served as a filter with a narrow lumen, the various chit- 
inous projections, bristles, spines, ete., serving to hinder the 
passage of food. He admitted no trituration, for he found full- 
sized fragments of plant. food and uninjured starch grains in the 
stomach after passing through the gizzard. Jordan and Ramme 
both state that the teeth move, not for masticatory processes, 
but for the mixing of food with enzymes and for crushing food 
particles to only a slight degree. The mixing in of the enzymes 
quickens digestive processes by aiding penetration. Mingazzini 
reached his conclusions from general biological considerations, 
and states that the complicated gizzard of Orthoptera cannot be 
a mere filter. This view is expressed by Biedermann in Win- 
terstein’s Handbuch. It is partly based on the assumption that 
such rapid eaters as cockroaches must needs have some chewing 
device. However, I have already described the retention of 
food from passing the gizzard for several days after a rapidly 
eaten meal. 
