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INTRODUCTION-. 



Twulce. Another test of the presence of sugar is the 

 growth of the Torulce cerevisice. After diabetic urine has 

 stood for some time at a moderate temperature, a delicate 

 scum will form upon the surface, which, on microscopic 

 examination, will be found to consist of a vegetable growth, 

 presenting a number of oval joints irregularly connected. 

 These are called Torulce. After a time they break up and 

 fall to the bottom of the vessel, as minute oval spores. This 

 appearance is observed even when a small quantity of sugar 

 is present. 



Yarious modes of procedure have been described for the 

 determination of the quantities of sugar. In general terms 

 it may be stated that the copiousness of the precipitate in 

 Trommer's test, and the amount of gas evolved in the fer- 

 mentation test, give some idea of the quantity of sugar 

 present. For directions for accurate quantitative analysis the 

 reader is referred to works on organic chemistry. 



Origin and Functions of Sugar. Sugar is an important 

 element of food at all periods of life. In the young child it 

 is introduced in considerable quantity with the milk. In 

 the adult it is introduced partly in the form of cane sugar, 

 but mostly ixi the form of starch, which is converted into 

 sugar in the process of digestion. With the exception of 

 milk sugar, which is present only during lactation, all the 

 sugar in the body exists in a form resembling glucose, into 

 which milk sugar, cane sugar, and starch are all converted, 

 either before they are absorbed, or as they pass through the 

 liver. In addition to these external sources of sugar, it is 

 continually manufactured in the economy by the liver, 

 whence it is taken up by the blood passing through this 

 organ. It disappears from the blood in its passage through * 

 the lungs. Sugar is found then in the economy con- 

 stantly, in the substance of the liver, in the blood coming 

 from the liver, and in the blood of the right side of the 

 heart; and after the ingestion of saccharine or amylaceous 



