3 14 PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 



THE BEHAVIOR OF THE LIVER WITH POISONS. 



The fact has been referred to already that many metallic 

 and some organic substances combine with the liver cells. All 

 this has a practical bearing on toxicological investigations, in 

 which experience has shown the importance of including the 

 liver in the analytical tests. Recent experiments have thrown 

 some light on the question of the manner of combination of 

 poisons. Corrosive sublimate, for example, fed in very small 

 portions to dogs was found later by post-mortem examina- 

 tions in the globulin fraction of the liver extract. The fixa- 

 tion of arsenic is different; it combines with a nuclein substance 

 and in very stable form, which explains the practical difficulty 

 of separating this substance in forensic investigations. 



Experiments have also been published showing the behavior 

 of small doses of morphine sulphate and strychnine sulphate 

 in the liver. It 'appears that the retaining power of the liver 

 for these poisons is relatively large when they are administered 

 by the mouth or injected into the portal vein. The retention 

 of the alkaloids by the organ has been experimentally shown. 

 Such observations have an important bearing in explaining the 

 fact that many poisons are far more active when injected hy- 

 podermically than when given through the stomach. This 

 seems to be true of many substances besides the metallic poi- 

 sons and the alkaloids. The phenols, for example, are like- 

 wise retained to a marked extent by the liver. 



SYNTHETIC PROCESSES IN THE LIVER. 



It has long been known that the liver is the seat of the for- 

 mation of a large number of metabolic products some of 

 which involve syntheses. Several of these reactions may be 

 briefly explained in this place, but nothing like a full discus- 

 sion will be attempted. A few illustrative cases only will be 

 taken to show in a general way what is best known in this 

 field. 



The Formation of Urea. Of all the synthetic reactions 

 known to occur wholly or in part in the liver this one has been 



