of Sugar in the Liver, in the presence of Peptones. 183 
in the presence of peptone, glycogen remains nearly stationary, or if 
diminished, not at all in proportion to the increase in sugar. Boehm 
and Hoffmann, however, found the liver glycogen much less resistant 
and that its decrease was in proportion to the increase in sugar. 
Delprat,* too, came to similar conclusions and could obtain no proof 
whatever, of the correctness of the views advanced by Seegen and 
Kratschmer. We have, therefore, in view of the importance of the 
subject, undertaken a study of the question in the hopes of throwing 
some additional light upon the matter. In this, however, we have 
limited ourselves entirely to a study of the post-mortem formation of 
sugar and carbohydrates by the liver in the presence of peptones. 
Methods employed. 
The animals experimented with, mainly rabbits, were killed by 
severing the jugular vein, the blood being collected and defibrin- 
- ated. The liver was quickly taken out, the gall bladder removed 
and the liver then converted into a fine pulp by chopping, since it is 
probable, as v. Wittich has suggested, that glycogen is unequally 
distributed through the liver. Two equal portions of the sampled 
and finely divided liver were accurately weighed out and placed in 
separate flasks ; one, with a solution of peptone and a known volume 
of blood, the other with an amount of distilled water equal in vol- 
ume to that of the two former. Both were then placed in a bath 
and warmed at 38-40° C. for the time of the experiment. A con- 
tinuous current of air was made to pass through the blood solution 
in order to render it arterial. At the end of the experiment, the 
mixtures were poured into boiling water and extracted as long as a 
trace of glycogen could be detected in the fluids, by the iodine test. 
This usually took about two days, working on an average with 40 
grams of liver. At the beginning of the extraction, the tissue was 
generally boiled with 400-500 ¢. c. of water for about fifteen minutes 
and then filtered through a funnel plugged with absorbent cotton. 
By repeating this operation four or five times, the greater portion of 
glycogen could be removed, but a complete extraction could be ob- 
tained only by long continued boiling with fresh quantities of water 
or long heating on the water-bath, the tissue being ground up occa- 
sionally in a suitable mortar. The various filtrates were evaporated 
on a water-bath and finally united and made up exactly to 500 «. «., 
after which the extracts were filtered through dry paper filters to 
* Jahresbericht fir Thierchemie, 1881, p. 321, 
