PHYSIOLOGY. 



541 



that the hemolytic glucosides are more globu- 

 licidal in saline solutions than in serum. Sub- 

 stances therefore exist in the serum that may be 

 regarded as protecting the red corpuscles against 

 the toxicity of these glucosides. A little serum 

 added to the water in which they are swim- 

 ming protects tadpoles against the toxicity .of 

 glucosides (saponin, cyclamin) that are otherwise 

 violently poisonous to them. Similarly, acid sodi- 

 um phosphate protects the red corpuscles from 

 the action of solemn, and protects fish it added to 

 the water of the aquarium. 



In the International Physiological Congress in 

 Turin, Prof. Hiirthle, of Breslau, demonstrated 

 by graphic records obtained by his new Stromuhr 

 that an increase in the speed of the liow of blood 

 in the carotid was produced by compression of the 

 opposite carotid; increase by section of the vago- 

 sympathetic; slowing of the blood-stream iii the 

 crural artery by stimulation of the nerves of the 

 limb muscles; and that the blood-stream in the 

 arteries as measured by the volume of blood flow- 

 ing along the channel in a given time increased 

 not in simple proportion to the increase of actual 

 pressure, but in much greater ratio. 



The studies of Prof. Kemp, of Illinois, and Miss 

 Calhoun of the blood-platelets in their relation to 

 coagulation of the blood-plasma go to confirm the 

 observation of Bizzozero that the blood of a liv- 

 ing dog can be reduced to an incoagulable condi- 

 tion by repeated " whippings " and reinjections. 

 The incoagulable blood contains no platelets, but 

 has some, though few, leucocytes. The authors 

 find that in normal clotting the blood-platelets 

 break down, while the leucocytes do not. The 

 fibrin filaments radiate from disintegrating blood- 

 platelets at the nodes of the network they form. 



Dr. Uhlen-Luth, of Greifswald, and Drs. Was- 

 sermann and Schutze, of Berlin, are independent 

 discoverers of a method of distinguishing human 

 blood from the blood of animals. The reaction 

 upon which it depends is obtainable from blood- 

 stains, however old, and corresponds with the fact 

 that the blood-serum of animals which have been 

 injected with the blood of an animal of a differ- 

 ent species, when added to a dilution of blood 

 from the latter, produces a well-marked precipi- 

 tate in it. Thus, if a rabbit be injected with hu- 

 man blood, the serum of the rabbit blood, when 

 added to a dilution of human blood, causes im- 

 mediate turbidity, while it does not when added 

 to dilutions of any other kind of blood. One ele- 

 ment of uncertainty arises from the fact that the 

 blood of monkeys reacts, to some extent, in the 

 same way as human blood, but there is consider- 

 able difference in the length of time required for 

 the two reactions to produce cloudiness. 



Digestion. Experiments on forced feeding are 

 described by W. Hale White and E. I. Spriggs, in 

 which the intake and output of a subject put 

 on a varied diet for fifty-five days were estimated. 

 During the period the subject increased in weight 

 13.256 kilos, which, the initial weight being 39.23 

 kilos, represented an addition of one-third. Of 

 fat taken daily, 96.5 per cent, was utilized. The 

 average intake of nitrogen was 38.95 grams, 

 equivalent to 244 grams of proteid, per day. The 

 average quantity of fat being 251.88 grams, it fol- 

 lows that about equal quantities of fat and pro- 

 teid were given. The observations were held fully 

 to support the fact that if much fat is given in 

 proportion to proteid, nitrogenous equilibrium is 

 only slowly attained. The total amount of ni- 

 tvngen given during the fifty-five days was 2,142.54 

 grams (average, as above, 38.95 grams a day). 

 Of this amount, 1,481.50 grams w r ere recovered in 

 urine and feces, leaving 661.04 grams stored in 



. The 



ney of 

 ;en in 



.'i per 



' ! 1 ll(! 

 <lrii"it 



the body to be got rid of in some 

 conclusion is drawn that there ,va 

 output as compared with intake 

 fifty-five days of at least 120 gr;i 

 cent, of the amount ingested: and 

 increase in weight was no doubt 

 was probably nearer 10 per cent. 



The movements of the large inte.-ti:, 

 from the studies of W. M. iJayle^ ami i. il. 

 Starling to be, like those of the small inle-tinej 

 under the control of the local nervous merii,:ui -ni. 

 The peristaltic contraction of the isolated !H.V,< I 

 is due to the combination of ascending excit.i 

 tory and descending inhibitory impulses started in 

 local nerve plexuses by the presence of a stimulat- 

 ing agent in the lumen of the bowel. The activity 

 of the local mechanism diminishes from the ileo- 

 caecal valve to the anus, so that under normal 

 circumstances the extrinsic innervation is of more 

 importance than the intrinsic in the emptying of 

 the lower segment of the colon. Sympathetic 

 supply to the colon (colonic splanchnia) has a 

 purely inhibitory effect on both coats of the 

 bowel. The pelvic visceral nerve is motor to both 

 coats. 



Dr. O. Cohnheim, of Heidelberg, reported to 

 the International Physiological Congress in Turin 

 that in his experiments on the disappearance of 

 peptones placed under the influence of intestinal 

 mucose the pepsins were not changed by albu- 

 min, but were split up into crystallized cleavage 

 products. The cleavage was accomplished by 

 means of a ferment crepsin produced by the in- 

 testine, which was active on peptones but not on 

 albumin. 



In his investigations of the subject, Prof. Albe- 

 roni, of Bologna, found that the sugars (glucose, 

 saccharose, and levulose) were not absorbed in 

 the ratio of their osmotic tensions. The absorp- 

 tion of lactose, whether in low-tension or high- 

 tension solutions, was always less than the rate 

 for glucose or saccharose. In the intestine the 

 author always found a field of higher osmotic ten- 

 sion than that of the blood. A slight increase of 

 the osmotic tension of the blood was observed 

 during the absorption of sugar. 



In experiments on the part played by the spleen 

 in pancreatic digestion, Dr. Drouin, of Paris, 

 united the esophagus to the duodenum in the dog, 

 and converting the stomach into an independent 

 cul-de-sac opening on the surface by a fistula, 

 eliminated gastric digestion, and leaving pancre- 

 atic action to perform the chief part in the work, 

 excised the spleen. The excision produced no 

 appreciable difference in the assimilative powers, 

 digestive activity, or apparent well-being of the 

 animal. The removal of the spleen seemed, fur- 

 ther, in no way to alter the quality or quantity of 

 the juice excreted by the fistulous stomach. 



The Glands. Changes in the volume of the 

 submaxillary gland as recorded plethysmograph- 

 ically have been studied by J.L. Bunch and classed 

 as passive and active. The author finds that the 

 gland reacts passively to changes in the general 

 blood-pressure, its volume rising and falling syn- 

 chronously with the latter. Thus we get a shrink- 

 age of the gland on stimulating the vagus or on 

 clamping both carotids, either of which proce- 

 dures diminishes the supply of blood to the gland. 

 On the other hand, the gland swells synchronously 

 with the rise of blood-pressure which normally 

 follows cessation of vagal inhibition. The active 

 changes in volume of the gland are conditioned by 

 t\Vo factors, vascular and secretory. In many 

 cases both of these factors are involved, the re- 

 sult being an algebraic summation of the effects 

 of each factor. All activity of the gland accom- 



