Physiology. — “On Serum-lipochrome’’. (Part ID) By Prof. Hijmans 
v. D. BeraH and Dr. P. Murrer. 5 
(Communicated at the meeting of April 23, 1920). 
In 1890 von NoorpeN described a peculiar colour of the skin‘), 
observed in sufferers from diabetes, which he named xanthose’). 
Originally he suspected the colouring matter, causing xanthose, to 
be a product of hemoglobin. Afterwards he receded from this opinion 
and declared that the nature of the pigment was still unknown. 
In 1913, before having cognizance of v. NoorDEN’s communication, 
we*) had observed the same orange-like colour in several persons, 
especially in sufferers from diabetes, but also in other men. This 
coloration seemed always to be attended by an increase of the serum 
lipochrome. The assumption was warrantable that this peculiar colour, 
which does not differ in any way from v. NoorpEn’s xanthose, 
depends on the supernormal lipochrome-amount of the blood. Since 
that time several reports on this subject have been published. PALMER“) 
and his co-workers have demonstrated that in cows the carotin of 
blood-serum, body-fat, and milk-fat, in fowls the xanthophyll of blood- 
serum, body-fat, and egg-yolk, originate from the vegetable carotinoid, 
taken in with the food. Latterly also German researchers have pointed 
to the correlation of the human serum-lipochrome, with the food- 
lipochrome. 
In 1913 and 1914 Mr. Bere performed unplublished researches 
in the Laboratory of the Groningen clinic, which support this 
hy pothesis. 
Mr. Bere’s conclusions were the following: 
1. The amount of lipochrome of the blood corresponds with that 
of the diet. It diminished (the experiments were made on Mr. Berea 
himself) considerably, after an exclusive diet during 10 days of 
skimmedmilk, uncoloured flour and rice. After a mixed diet and many 
egos the amount of lipochrome rose higher than befure the commence- 
ment of the experiment. 
2. Fowls possess a high serum-lipochrome content. After giving 
1) Handb. d. Pathol. d. Stoffwechsels, Il, 290. 
2) Internat. Dermatol. Congress, Berlin, 1904. 
3) Deutsch. Arch. f. klin. Mediz. 1913, blz. 540. 
4) Journ. biol. Chem. 1914, 1915, 1916, 1919. 
