G. F. Barker—Physiological Chemistry. 59 
proportion of its contents, ‘The experiment is easily performed 
with dogs by passing an elastic catheter through the right jug- 
ular vein for a distance equal to that of the heart ; the animal 
must not be too tightly bound, nor the quantity of blood remov- 
ed too great. The blood as drawn, is allowed to flow directly 
into an equal volume of boiling water, a trace of acetic acid is 
added, the albumin—thus coagulated —with the adhering col- 
oring ‘matter, removed by filtration, and the scarcely colored 
filtrate tested, either directly or after extraction with alcohol, for 
sugar. Blood taken from the artery or vein of an extremity at 
the same time, was examined in the same way. The results 
show that the blood of the right ventricle, as well as arterial 
blood, contains a minute quantity of sugar, like all healthy 
blood ; but that no more is contained in the blood of the right 
ventricle than in other blood. That it was really sugar that 
reduced the copper-tests was proved by fermentation. In one 
experiment, a dog was catheterized as above, and a portion ot 
blood taken from the right ventricle. The catheter remained, 
while blood for comparison was drawn from the thigh. After 
this operation, which occupied some minutes, a second portion 
of blood was drawn from the catheter. On examination, the 
first portion of ventricular blood contained only the trace of 
sugar ordinarily found; while the arterial blood from the thigh, 
and also the blood subsequently taken from the ventricle, were 
rich in sugar. Hence, the blood had become saccharine in the 
course of the experiment, and this sugar reappeared in the ar- 
terial blood, not having been destroyed in the lungs. With 
ee, to the influence exerted by narcosis, Ritter found that 
morphine was injected under the skin of a dog, the blood 
of the femoral artery and vein, as well as that of the right 
ventricle, taken fifteen minutes afterward, was rich in sugar, 
about an equal quantity being in each specimen; the urine was 
also diabetic. Pavy’s assumption that both the liver and the 
plood contain a ferment, founded on the injection of amyloid 
substance into the blood and the consequent increase of sugar, 
Ritter had not been able to confirm. He injected 15 or 20 ¢. c. 
warm concentrated solution of glycogen into the femoral 
veins of rabbits. Nothing abnormal was noticed in their be- 
havior, and scarcely a perceptible increase of sugar was ob- 
served. He suggests that possibly the glycogen may have been 
changed to lactic acid. Nor do his experiments show that amy- 
loid substance can be changed into sugar by the action of freshly- 
drawn blood. Ritter maintains therefore, that the ferment it- 
self is a post mortem production ; and inclines to the belief 
that the amyloid substance is a stage in the physiological al 
duction of fats. 
