248 



Physiology. — Farther experimental liwestujatlon.s of the internal 

 secretion of the pancrms. (By N. Watkrman M. D.). (Coni- 

 raunicated by Prof. Dr. 0. A. Pekelharing). 



(Communicated in the meeting of June 28, 1913). 



In a previous publication ') we discussed some properties of the 

 blood from the pancreatic vein (containing what may presumably 

 be considered as tiie internal secretum), and concluded from our 

 experimentation that the secretum of the pancreas subserves the 

 glycogenesis of the liver. No effort was made to detect whether this 

 influence is due to a diminished splitting of the glycogen in the 

 liver or perhaps to an increased formation of glycogen. As known, 

 J. DE Meijer') has pointed' out that various pancreatic extracts, 

 which are made to pass artificially through the liver, cause a relative 

 increase of glycogen. On the basis of these investigations De Meijer 

 accepted the second alternative. I have also endeavoured to make 

 up my mind about this question, in a different way from de Meijer's 

 though, partly because circumstances compelled me to adopt a 

 different method, in default of the expensive apparatus for artificial 

 circulation, partly because the results of de Meijer's experiments did 

 not appear to me altogether conclusive on the following grounds: 



1. frequent errors are incidental to artificial circulation, so that 

 out of 17 of DE Meijer's experiments 6 (= 1/3) were discarded 

 outright ; 



2. after all, we are disposed to think that critics must find fault 

 with the values de Meijer obtains in his glycogen-determinations 

 and especially with his way of calculating large percentages from 

 insignificant absolute differences. Some examples to illustrate this; 



I.e. page 48 we are told that a double circulation evolves an 

 increase of 0.00158 7^ of glycogen. In the 4^'' experiment on page 49 

 the examination of about 70 grs of liver yielded an absolute differ- 

 ence of 0.00428 grs. of glycogen. Still the percentage differences 

 for these experiments were given even as high as 15 and 20 perc. 



I, therefore, followed out another plan, which of course will also 

 be at fault in one way or other, but which, in my opinion, resulted 

 in very serviceable evidence. I proceeded as follows: 



A number of dogs were put under a profound narcosis and during 

 one hour and a half they were given in most cases per jugular 

 vein, rarely per pancreatic duodenal vein, a certain dose of Locke's 



1) These Proc. Vol. XVI, p. 2. 



2) J. DE Meyer, Archives Internat, de Physiologie. Vol. IX, 1910. 



