CHAP. III.] LEUCINE. 233 



certainly not existent at the time of death. The question then 

 arises whether any of the leucine found in the pancreas is to be 

 looked upon as a normal constituent ante mortem. Numerous facts 

 enable us to answer this question in the affirmative. 



Radziejewsky, in 1865, under Kiihne's guidance 1 , made a research 

 with the express object of determining whether leucine and tyrosine 

 are normal 'constituents of the body ; with this object the various 

 organs were removed immediately after animals had been killed, 

 plunged into spirit, then immediately cut into fragments, and 

 pounded with the help of sand. The alcoholic solution was then 

 investigated. It was found that whilst tyrosine occurs normally in 

 no single organ, leucine is a constant constituent, though in different 

 and fluctuating proportions, of the pancreas, the spleen, the lymphatic 

 glands, the salivary glands, the thyroid, thymus and liver 2 . Leucine 

 was neither found in the muscles, lungs and brain, nor in blood, 

 saliva, bile, and urine. The presence of leucine in the kidney and 

 testicle was considered doubtful. Treskin 3 , in a research made under 

 Hoppe-Seyler's direction, subsequently discovered leucine in the 

 testicle, and Cloetta 4 discovered it to be a normal constituent of 

 lung tissue. 



Leucine, according to v. Gorup-Besanez, has been found in the 

 alimentary canal of the pupae of Sphinx pinastri and Cossus ligni- 

 perda: in arthropoda : in Astacus fluviatilis ; in spiders, caterpillars 

 and butterflies, and indeed is a frequent constituent of invertebrata 5 . 

 It was found by Professor Zoller of Vienna (together with tyrosine) 

 in the contents of two fossil eggs discovered in the guano of the 

 Island of Chincha (Peru) 6 . 



Leucine has been found by Gorup-Besanez in seedling vetch 

 plants 7 , together with asparagine : by Schulze and Barbieri 8 , together 

 with asparagine and tyrosine, in seedling pumpkins. 



In pathological conditions, leucine has been found together with 

 tyrosine, in large quantities, in the blood, liver and urine of cases of 

 acute yellow atrophy 9 : in the liver and urine in cases of phosphorus 



1 S. Radziejewsky, ' Das Vorkommen von Leucin und Tyrosin in normalen Korper ' 

 (aus dem chemischen Laboratorium des pathologischen Instituts zu Berlin). Virchow's 

 Arch iv, Vol. xxxvi. (1866), p. 114. 



- The reader may consult a paper by Hud. Virchow, ' Ueber der Leucin und 

 Tyrosin Abscheidungen an der Leber.' Virchow's Archiv, Vol. vm. (1855), p. 355. 



3 Treskin, ' Bestaudtheile der Testikel.' Pjliiger's Archiv, Vol. v. (1872), p. 

 122130. 



4 Cloetta, Annalen d. Chem. u. Pharm. Vol. xcix., p. 289. 



5 v. Gorup-Besanez, Lehrbuch d. phys. Chem., 4th ed. (1878), p. 225. 



6 Zoller, ' Ueber die Zusammensetzung fossiler Eier und verschiedener im Guano 

 gefundener Concretionen.' Anzeiger der k. Akad. in Wien, 1874, no. 19. The author 

 has not seen this paper, of which a lengthy abstract appeared in Maly's Jahresbericht, 

 Vol. iv., p. 334337. 



7 Gorup-Besanez, Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Geselhchaft, Vol. vn. (1874), p. 146 and 569. 



8 E. Schulze und J. Barbieri, 'Leucin aus Kiirbiskeimlingen.' Ber. d. d. chem. 

 Gesell. 11, 1233. 



9 French's Deutsche Klinik, 1855, no. 31, 'Klinik der Leberkrankheiten, ' 1858. 



