190 NONEXISTENCE OF StTGAR IN DIABETIC BLOCS. 



V. 



Dt, Marcet's Reply to I)r, Wollaston, on the same 

 Subject. 



Rnssell Square, January 8, 1811. 

 MY DEAR SIR, 



Thehypatlie- J£ y\i„ niuch ffvatified to find, that you have at last been 



sis cf the . - - ° . , ,1 T» . c*. • . 



presence of induced to conimuntcate to the Ko}'al society your curiou^ 



sugar in inquiry respecting the state of the blood in diabetes. I was 



•pecious. anxious, that the specious hypothesis of t!i€ presence ofsu-^ 



gar in diabetic blood, which had been sanctioned by the 



authority of Dr. Rollo and Mr. Cruickshank, and which I 



had myself urged in support of their theory, fourteen years 



ago, in an inaugural publication, should no longer obtain 



an undue weight among phyeiological inquirers. 



Attempt to as- With regard to the experiments which I tried at your re- 



t^heTprus Tte 1^^^^ some years ago, with a view to ascertain whether prus- 



of potash, siate of potash taken into the stomach, and found to exist in 



taken iiuer- ^^^ urine, could also be detected in other secretrons, I find, 

 nally, be pre- . . . ' 



sent in any on referring to my memorandums, the following particulars, 

 other secretion ^^^^^^^ j ghyH transcribe verbatim, 

 beiiae urine. 



*' August 19, I8O7. Having heard from Dr. Wollaston, 

 that prussiate of potash could be taken into the stomach 

 with perfect safety, and that its presence could afterward be 

 discovered in the urine, but not in fhe serum ; and being 

 invited by him to follow up this inquiry, with a view to 

 connect it with the theory of diabetes, 1 tried the following 

 experiments. 

 Exp. 1. Exp. 1. " After having satisfied myself, by trials made 



Prussiate of ^ some medical sentlcmen upon theinselves, that consider- 



DotsSii insv DC w I 



taken in con- able doses of prussiate of potash might be taken without the 



s.derable |ggg|. inconvenience, 1 gave to a young woman, labouring 



under diabetes mellitus, five grains of prussiate of potash 



dissolved in water, and this was repeated every hour, till she 



had 



