180 Chittenden and Lambert— Post-mortem Formation 
ments on cats and dogs, that after death, contrary to the state- 
ments of Seegen, increased formation of sugar is attended with a cor- 
responding decrease of glycogen, at least within such limits as are 
incident to the errors of experiment ; further that in the case of a 
cat’s liver 32 per cent. of the liver glycogen disappeared in 24 hours 
after death, thus indicating less resistance to the action of ferments 
than would be implied by Seegen’s and Kratschmer’s results. 
In a later investigation,* Seegen shows that pieces of finely divided 
liver, kept in contact for an hour or longer with a solution of pep- 
tone yield a larger amount of sugar and even of total carbohydrates, 
than equal weights of the same liver under like conditions of treat- 
ment, without peptones. These results were obtained with the 
livers of calves, rabbits and dogs. Seegen, therefore, concludes 
that the liver is capable of forming from peptones, sugar and carbo- 
hydrates which are convertible into sugar. 
A study of the analytical data plainly shows that the increase in 
sugar and total carbohydrates in the presence of peptone, although 
pronounced, is not great. The following experiment+ with a calf’s 
liver obtained from the market shows the most marked increase. 
With peptone. Without peptone. 
Time of the Total nea “Tot 
No. experiment. Sugar. carbohydrates. Sugar. carbohydrates. 
T. 30 minutes 3°84 % 9°52 4 3°40 % 8°8 Z 
ETS 48 hours 3°56 8°92 3°70 8°6 
II. 96 nt 2°66 8:00 2°82 78 
Here the increase in total carbohydrates is seen to be only 0°72 per 
cent. and of sugar only 0°44 per cent. after 30 minutes. In Nos. [I 
and III, longer standing in contact with the peptone tends to reduce 
the amount of sugar and to diminish the increase of total carbohy- 
drates. This is attended with increase of acidity and Seegen con- 
siders that a portion of the sugar is decomposed in this long contact 
with peptone with formation of acid. 
In a still later communication,{ Seegen reports the results of other 
experiments tending to confirm his theory of the formation of carbo- 
hydrate matter from peptones in the liver. Thus, by feeding peptones 
to dogs, Seegen found that the content of sugar in the livers of 
eight dogs was considerably greater that in the normal liver, taking 
for the latter value the average of a number of determinations. 
* Die Einwirkung der Leber auf Pepton. Pfliger’s Archiv, vol. xxv, p. 165. 
+ Pfliiger’s Archiv, vol. xxv, p. 171. 
¢ Pepton als Material fiir Zuckerbildung in der Leber. Pfliiger’s Archiv, vol. 
XXvili, p. 99. 
