184 Dr Latham, On the Conversion of [Feb. 6, 



IOTT 



Taking glycocine, we find that its antecedent CH 2 \ p« com- 

 bining with the antecedents of cholalic acid, is poured out into the 

 duodenum from the bile duct as glycocholic acid — 



CH 2 j™ + C 24 H 40 O 5 = C 26 H 43 NO c 

 methene cyanhydrin cholalic acid glycocholic acid 



This acid is decomposed in the intestines, so that "after it has 

 served its purpose in digestion, the ammonia compound is returned 

 into the blood*." The bile acid by hydration is decomposed as 

 follows : 



C. 2i H 43 N0 6 + H 2 = CH 2 (NH 2 ) COOH + M H M 5 



glycocholic acid glycocine cholalic acid 



and is brought in contact with glucose produced by the action of 

 the digestive fluids on starch and sugar. Now we know that 

 various kinds of sugar in the presence of water and certain fer- 

 ments, viz. albuminous substances in a peculiar state of decompo- 

 sition, are converted into lactic acid^f" — 



C 6 H 12 6 = 2C 3 H C 3 

 glucose lactic acid 



= 2CH 3 .CHJ 



OH 



COOH 



that is, the glucose either undergoes a molecular transformation, or 

 it enters into chemical combination with the nitrogenous or albu- 

 minous body. If glycocine be the nitrogenous body present, we 

 can hardly assume in either case that it will remain unchanged, but 

 we may expect that it will also experience under certain conditions 

 a similar change to the glucose. This transformation, I venture to 

 suggest, is into methyl urethane — 



2C Mtooh + ' h --°'= 2C > h -°» + 200 {S£. 



glycocine glucose lactic acid methyl urethane 



lCOOH + ^°\OOH a 



* Foster's Physiology. 3rd Ed. p. 231. 

 t Fownes, Chemistry, p. 324. 



