384 G. F. Barker—Physiological Chemistry. 
mented on were all killed by a section of the medulla; the por- 1 
tal vein was then ligated through an incision on the right side, 
the abdomen opened, and the inferior vena cava tied below the 
diaphragm. By cutting through this muscle, a second ligature 
was placed upon the vena cava, just above it. It was then — 
easy to collect the hepatic blood without admixture, by intro- 
ducing a glass tube into that portion of the vena cava included 
between the ligatures. The portal blood was obtained by means _ 
of a second tube introduced below the portal ligature. Exper 
iment has shown that blood taken between this ligature and the 
liver always contains sugar, from regurgitation. The blood to 
examined is mixed with three times its weight of st 
alcohol, strained through linen, pressed out, the residues and 
vessels washed with alcohol, the whole filtered, acidulated with 
a few drops of acetic acid and evaporated on the water bath. 
The residue is mixed with water, a gram of fresh yeast is ad 
and the whole is introduced into a graduated bell-jar over mer- — 
cury, standing in a warm place. A like quantity of the same 
yeast mixed with distilled water is used as a blank test, for : 
comparison. After from 18 to 24 hours, the gas evolved Is 
3 
; 
4 
‘measured, the necessary corrections are made, and the amount — 
of sugar calculated. Three careful quantitative examinations — 
made in this way, showed no sugar-in the portal blood of an 
mals fed on meat, either raw or cooked; while under the same 
conditions the hepatic blood contained from one to four thou- 
sandths of its weight of sugar. : a 
(15.) In May, 1855, F. W. Pavy communicated to 
Special 
hich takes 
~ 4 
inasmuch as the direct oxydation of glucose is not CMY os 
suggests that under the influence of fibrin acting as @ ferme 
the sugar is split into lactic acid; an opinion which is st 
