312 SECRETION. 



was made up, so as to be perfectly fresh. The two liquids 

 were then carefully tested for sugar. The extract of the 

 liver presented not the slightest trace of sugar. The extract 

 from the blood of the hepatic veins presented a well-marked 

 deposit of the oxide of copper, revealing unequivocally the 

 presence of a small quantity of sugar. 



Experiment IV. This experiment was made upon a 

 medium-sized dog, in full digestion of meat. The medulla 

 oblongata was broken up ; the portal vein was tied through 

 a small opening in the abdomen and the abdomen was then 

 widely opened, and a portion of the liver excised, rapidly 

 rinsed, and cut up into boiling water. The length of time 

 that elapsed between breaking up the medulla and cutting 

 up the specimen of liver into the boiling water was one 

 minute. 



The vena cava was then tied above the renal veins, the 

 chest opened, and the cava again tied above the hepatic 

 veins. Blood was then taken from the hepatic veins, about 

 an equal bulk of water was added with an excess of the 

 crystallized sulphate of soda, and the mixture was boiled. 

 A portion of the portal blood and the decoction of the liver 

 were then treated in the same way, and the three specimens 

 filtered. 



The clear extracts were then tested with Fehling's liquid, 

 with the following result : 



There was no sugar in the portal blood. 



There was no sugar in the extract of the liver. 



There was a marked reaction in the extract of the blood 

 from the hepatic veins, the precipitate rendering the whole 

 solution bright yellow and entirely opaque. 



This experiment was made in the presence of the class, 

 at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, January 4, 1869. 



The importance of the question under consideration and 

 its present unsettled condition are, we hope, sufficient to 

 justify the introduction of the details of the preceding 

 experiments. They were undertaken with the view of har- 



