3IO PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 



cc. of water 0.2 gm. of sodium fluoride and 0.9 gm. of sodium 

 chloride. The liver powder is exhausted with such a solution 

 at a temperature of 38 and the filtered liquid obtained may 

 be used in two ways. On standing, the sugar in the solution 

 increases while the glycogen decreases. In addition, if pure 

 glycogen be added to such an extract it is found also to dimin- 

 ish with corresponding increase of sugar. It is further found 

 that boiling the fluoride extract destroys all converting power, 

 which fact speaks likewise for enzyme action. 



The glycogen-converting power of solutions made as above 

 is considerable and sufficient to fully account for the post- 

 mortem increase of sugar always found in the liver. By ex- 

 tracting not the whole liver but portions it is possible to com- 

 pare the distribution of the ferment. Experiments made with 

 this end in view have shown that this is pretty uniform. By 

 following the same general method Pick has compared the 

 ferment activity of the liver with that of other organs where 

 glycogen may be stored. In such experiments the diastatic 

 action of the liver has been found to be in excess as should 

 be expected, since this is the organ where the greatest accumu- 

 lation normally takes place. This normal conversion of gly- 

 cogen by the liver ferment is interfered with by various sub- 

 stances which may be taken as remedies; quinine salts seem 

 to be especially active. 



AUTOLYTIC FERMENTATION. 



The liver, or other organ, removed from the body and left 

 to itself speedily undergoes a change. Unless precautions are 

 taken to prevent it the bacterial decomposition may become 

 pronounced and obscure other reactions. Some years ago 

 Salkowski gave the name auto-digestion to the fermentations 

 taking place in the liver, in which a change in the nitrogenous 

 constituents is mainly involved. Other chemists followed the 

 subject further, taking precautions to exclude all bacterial in- 

 fluences, and have brought to light a number of very peculiar 

 reactions which follow from the presence of ferments in the 



