THE SPLENO-PANCREATIC INTERNAL SECRETION. 419 



Yet, glycosuria so produced may, we have seen, be pre- 

 vented by grafting a fragment of pancreas under the skin. 

 Minkowski 38 grafted such fragments in the dog, cat, and pig, 

 removed from the pancreas of these animals. When the graft 

 had become adherent and functionally active, he removed the 

 rest of the pancreas. No glycosuria appeared until the grafted 

 portion itself had been removed. Besides indicating that 

 ptyalin glycosuria prevails after resection of the pancreas, the 

 fact that grafts can preserve normal functions clearly shows 

 that the intestinal canal is not the only region wherein split- 

 ting of carbohydrates and proteids may occur. Each graft 

 evidently received its blood through newly-formed vessels. 

 This blood doubtless contained splenic ferment, since, as pre- 

 viously stated, the greater portion of this ferment really enters 

 the general circulation via the liver, and ultimately reaches 

 the portal circulation, probably by the hepatic artery, in the 

 experimental animals. Such being the case, it is evident that 

 the splenic vein can, besides the intestinal villi, serve as a channel 

 for the transmission of the pancreatic and splenic ferments to the 

 liver. 



Here, again, however, are we brought to realize that the 

 splenic ferment is not merely a local agency, but one which 

 during spleno-pancreatic activity forms part of the entire 

 blood-stream. We have given striking evidence of this in 

 Herzen's experiment with blood taken from various arteries 

 and veins. We saw that blood taken from the femoral vessels 

 (arterial and venous) of a dog in full splenic digestion proved 

 active in digesting albumin, and that the blood of the splenic 

 vein was exceedingly active. Indeed, the blood which is so 

 active in the pancreas originates from the cceliac axis, lungs, 

 heart, etc., i.e., from the general circulation, and only con- 

 tains the proportion of splenic ferment which the entire blood- 

 stream contains. But a question suggests itself here: If, by 

 the combination of trypsinogen and the splenic ferment, tryp- 

 sin is formed, is it not trypsin-laden blood that re-enters the 

 pancreas? Trypsin would re-enter this organ were the relative 

 proportions of the two bodies not regulated by the vagus. As 



38 Minkowski: Loc. cit. 



27 



