THE OXIDIZING SUBSTANCE OF THE BLOOD-PLASMA. 137 



defined obtain: The third and thirteenth paragraphs show 

 that it is not the tissues that oxidize poisons, while the tenth 

 as forcibly demonstrates that this function cannot be attrib- 

 uted to the blood-corpuscles. That the blood-serum contains 

 the oxidizing principle is confirmed by Paragraphs 2 and 10. 

 That the process can be exercised notwithstanding the alkaline 

 salts of the serum is emphasized in Paragraph 4. 



The exposure of the suprarenal secretion to the air of the 

 lungs as the intermediate function upon which the acquisition 

 of oxidizing powers depends is typified by the need of a con- 

 tinuous current of air, to sustain the oxidizing power of iht 

 ferment, referred to in Paragraph 11. That a "great numbei 

 of substances upon which the action of the oxidation ferment 

 is exercised" exist, is evident, judging from those given in 

 Paragraph 16 and elsewhere in the paper. Finally, that there 

 exists an underlying cause for fluctuations in the oxidizing 

 power of the serum, digestion, age, diet, etc., all features 

 which more or less influence the adequacy of the suprarenal 

 glands, is demonstrated in Paragraph 11. As several chap- 

 ters will contribute abundant evidence to demonstrate the ex- 

 istence of an oxidizing substance, we will limit ourselves, for 

 the present, to a single class of affections in which its action 

 is clearly marked: i.e., those ascribed to "uric acid." 



The older view as to the origin of uric acid i.e., that it 

 was, as held by Liebig, Wohler, and Frerichs, a product of albu- 

 minoid decomposition and a preliminary process to the pro- 

 duction of urea no longer prevails. Benecke, in 1874, showed 

 that the greater part of the urea eliminated did not originate 

 from oxidized uric acid, while Horbaczewski, in 1891, found 

 that, just as the nuclein of pus-cells and that of the blood- 

 corpuscles of birds could produce hypoxanthin, guanin, and 

 xanthin, as noted by Kossel, so could it produce uric acid in 

 vitro under the effects of marked oxidation. Nuclein adminis- 

 tered to animals is, moreover, known to increase the production 

 of uric acid: a fact which led Horbaczewski to conclude that 

 normally-eliminated uric acid originates from nuclein, which in 

 turn is liberated through the destruction of cellular structures 

 and especially of leucocytes. This investigator further noted 

 that leucocytosis was attended with increased elimination of 



