430 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 



Total carbohydrate in leg before 

 perfusion (glycogen and sugar) 

 (.12 per cent.) 1.260 gms. 



Total carbohydrate in leg after per- 

 fusion (.1645 percent.) 1.645 " 



Gain .3850 " 



Total volume blood used in per- 

 fusion 500 c.c. 



Content of sugar at beginning 



(.5472 per cent.) 2.7160" 



After four perfusions (2 hrs., 30 

 mins.) blood remained after sam- 

 ples were taken for analysis . . . 310 c.c. 



Amount of sugar this contained 



(.4348 per cent.) 1.3478 " 



Total loss of sugar in blood 1.3682 " 



Sugar recovered from samples . . . .3508 " 



Hecovered by diflference in muscles 



at end .3850 " 



Sugar loss by oxidation .6324 " 



If the amount of dextrose in the original 

 blood be calculated at one part per thousand 

 there vcould be at least .3204 gm. of levulose 

 used by the muscles, granting that the dex- 

 trose be utilized before the levulose, an as- 

 sumption vehich has no facts to support it. 



A second experiment carried out in the 

 same way where the sugar at the beginning 

 was .8620 per cent, at the end of the perfu- 

 sion of over four hours' duration contained 

 .3360 per cent. The total loss of sugar was 

 1.0997 gm. Dextrose content at beginning 

 -was .0801 per cent. Loss of levulose at least 

 .Y693 gm. The results show that levulose as 

 dextrose is attacked directly by the living tis- 

 sues. If there be a conversion of either into 

 glycogen it takes place in the muscle as it is 

 oxidized, which is highly improbable. 



Maltose is not used directly by the muscle. 

 There is some loss of sugar, but if we assume 

 that the dextrose in the blood is utilized in 

 preferenc'e to maltose, no reduction of the 

 quantity of maltose takes place. If we grant 

 that both are used equally there could be at 

 most only a slight reduction of the maltose. 

 Some interesting features in connection with 

 the vitality of the muscles are brought out in 

 maltose perfusions, e. g., 



Per 

 Cent. 



The blood after addition of maltose 6325 



The blood after 30 minutes (first perfusion) .5720 



The blood after 68 minutes ( fifth perfusion ) .5720 

 The blood after 4 hrs., 16 mins. (fourteenth 



perfusion) 4720 



Sugar in non-perfused leg 0500 



Sugar in perfused leg at end of experiment .2250 



The total sugar recovered is almost equal 

 to that at the beginning. Between the fifth 

 perfusion and the fourteenth the reaction to 

 stimulation decreased markedly, and the trans- 

 udation of the sugar into the muscles ap- 

 peared to occur pari passu with the loss of 

 the vitality of the muscle. The loss of sugar 

 in the first thirty minutes was less than the 

 dextrose content of the blood at the beginning. 

 The loss thereafter was very slight. 



Investigation of the other sugars has not 

 been concluded. 



Hugh McGuigan 



Washington University 

 JMedical School 



QUOTATIONS 



THE COMMITTEE OP ONE HUNDRED 



One of the largest and most enthusiastic 

 of the sectional meetings of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 recently held in Chicago, was the Symposium 

 on Federal Regulation of Public Health, held 

 by the Economic Section in conjunction with 

 the Committee of One Hundred on National 

 Health, and representatives from other great 

 organizations. The opening address was by 

 Professor William H. Welch, the retiring 

 president of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, and in it he empha- 

 sized the importance of the movement con- 

 ducted by the Committee of One Hundred. 

 He described the existing neglect of health 

 as shameful, and pointed out that, if existing 

 hygienic knowledge were fully applied, the 

 death-rate might be cut in two. As examples 

 of what a Federal Health Bureau might do 

 he cited the work of Pasteur and Koch, whose 

 best work was done for the national govern- 

 ments of France and Germany, though the 

 benefits have been shared by all nations. In 

 America we lack even the statistics of disease 

 except in a limited area. Professor F. F. 

 Wesbrook, the dean of the Medical School of 

 the University of Minnesota, showed the need 



