ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF PEPTONE. 3843 
di-amido-valerianic acid (ornithin), or, of the 192 parts by weight of arginin 
and water, 60 parts appear as urea and 132 parts as di-amido-valerianic 
acid. With these facts in view the following experiments were performed, in 
some of which the substance was administered hypodermically, in the others 
with the food. The same animals were used for both sets of experiments, 
the two forms of administration being carried out consecutively on each 
animal, an interval of some days being allowed between. 
The conclusions which may be deduced from the results so far obtained 
are as follows : 
1. Feeding with arginin as chloride or carbonate gives rise to an 
increased excretion of nitrogen in the urine, chiefly as urea. 
2. For every 100 parts of nitrogen administered as arginin with food, 
72°8 to 96:3 parts reappear in the form of urea. But, as stated, when 
transformed in the laboratory only half the nitrogen appears as urea, 
the other half as ornithin. 
3. In the animal body ornithin, therefore, is either not formed, or, if 
so, is largely reconverted into urea. 
4. Much the same effects are obtained when arginin is administered 
by subcutaneous injection, except that more nitrogen is excreted in the 
urine than could have been derived from the arginin. 
5. The excess of nitrogen thus excreted cannot be attributed to the 
action of the solvent employed. One must therefore conclude that 
arginin, thus administered, stimulates nitrogenous metabolism. 
_ 6. The ‘urea-nitrogen quotient’ (relation of urea-nitrogen to total 
nitrogen) is increased during arginin administration, thus bearing out the 
conclusion that a large percentage of the arginin nitrogen is converted 
into urea. 
7. No arginin nitrogen is excreted with the feces. 
8. In one experiment glycosuria followed the administration of 
arginin. 
Metabolism of the Tisswes.—Report of the Committee, consisting of 
Professor GotcH (Chairman), Mr. J. Barcrorr (Secretary), 
Sir Micwaeu Foster, and Professor STARLING. 
THe work undertaken under the auspices of this Committee has con- 
cerned itself with the gaseous and nitrogenous exchange of certain glands 
—to wit, the salivary glands, the kidneys, and the pancreas. 
The blood gases of the salivary glands had already been worked out, 
and within the year results have been obtained of a similar nature for 
the pancreas and for the kidney. 
In each case it appears that functional activity is always, under 
normal circumstances, accompanied by a large increase in the oxygen 
taken from the blood. 
Taking eight comparisons of the blood coming from and going to the 
pancreas, it appeared that the resting gland, or rather the tail of the resting 
pancreas, uses up ‘25 ¢.c. of oxygen per minute, while the same portion, 
secreting under the stimulus of secretin, uses up *92c¢.c. of oxygen per 
minute. As the average rate of blood flow through the gland was the 
same in both cases, we seem justified in concluding that the oxygen used 
up was due to the activity of the organ. 
Our experiments on the pancreas have been performed both by the 
