12 Notes from the Physiological Laboratory 



inunction, and the faeces of each examined for oil at 

 the end of the third and of the eleventh day of 

 inunction. At the end of the third day, traces of 

 fat were observed in the majority of the specimens. 

 On the eleventh day all but three specimens ex- 

 hibited, on microscopical examination, a decidedly 

 notable quantity of unabsorbed fat, numerous oil- 

 globules being apparent in every field. 



In like manner an examination was made of the 

 dejecta of six adults, after which each was twice 

 daily well rubbed with cod-liver oil in the groins 

 and axillae for a period of three weeks. The faeces 

 of the adults contained normally much more fat 

 than those of the infants, but in all but one case 

 there was a well-marked increase in the proportion 

 of fatty globules at the end of the treatment. 



The circumstances of the examination precluded 

 the application of the ether method for the estima- 

 tion of fats, and we were forced to rely upon a close 

 microscopical examination. For the micrometric 

 method only relative accuracy is claimed, and we 

 hope soon to be able to go over the same ground, 

 substituting a chemical for the optical method in 

 the determination of fats. By the use, however, of 

 well-mixed specimens, and by carefully averaging 

 the contents of many fields from the same specimen, 



