Trial witk 

 dbbeJic blood 

 that had been 

 dried. 



J 35 NONEXISTESCE OF SUGAR IK EJIA^ETJC BLOOO. 



The first which I examined was a portion of blood that 

 had been taken from a person, whose urine had been ana- 

 lysed, and found to contain sugar. This blood had been 

 dried, when fresh, by a gentle heat, so as not to coagulate 

 the serum. After beintf reduced to powder, it was mixed 

 with water, in order that every thinjj which remained solu- 

 ble might be extracted. A little muriatic acid was then ad- 

 ded, and sufficient heat applied for coai^julation of the albu- 

 men. The water that separated after coagulation was four.d 

 Ko tugar, to contain the salts of the blood, but no trace whatever of 



2d experi- 

 susnt. 



SI experi- 



cent. 



4th experi- 

 ment. 



An equivocal 

 appearance. 



A second specimen of dried blood, that had been ascer- 

 tained to be diabetic on the same evidence as the preceding, 

 was examined in a similar manner, with the same result, as 

 BO appearance of sugar could be discerned. 



In a thivd instance, I had some serum from the blood of 

 a person, whose urine had been tasted, and found " veri/ 

 sweet." (I had no opportunity of procuring any of this 

 urine for analysis). After a portion of this serum bad been 

 coagulated, with the addition of the usual proportion of 

 muriatic acid, there was no appearance whatever of sugar. 

 But when three grains of diabetic sugar had been added to 

 another ounce of the same serum, the presence of this quan- 

 tity was manifest by the same process. 



I had also a fourth opportunity of examining serum of a 

 person, whose urine contained so much saccharine matter, 

 that an ounce of it yielded, by evaporation, thirty six grains 

 of extract. In this instance I was not so successful in my 

 experiment ; for, though I was satisfied that no sugar was 

 present, there certainly was a degree of blackness, which 

 might have been occasioned by about one grain and a half 

 of sugar in the ounce of serum. But this black matter ap- 

 peared not to; be sugar : it was more easily dried than sugar : 

 it was not fusible by heat as sugar is : and its refractive 

 power* was too great for that of sugar. 



I unfortunately had no opportunity of repeating the ex- 

 periment on a second portion of the same serum, having 



• The method by which this was tried has since that time been de- 

 scribed in ihe Phil. Tran-. for 180?. See Journal, "toI. IV, p. 89. 



inconsiderately 



