QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 121 



Equines have no gall-bladder, hence the bile is poured into the 

 intestines as fast as it is secreted. Bovines have a gall-bladder and 

 in this capacious receptacle the bile is stored until required. It 

 has been computed that a horse secretes 10 ounces of bile, hourly, 

 and the ox only 4 ounces in the same time. 



What is glycogen? 



Glycogen is commonly called "animal starch." It is a carbo- 

 hydrate from the liver, leucocytes, cartilage and other tissues. It 

 is formed in the liver from carbohydrates and proteids, being con- 

 verted into sugar as the needs of the system require, and is carried 

 away in the hepatic vein. 



State the function of the pancreas. 



The pancreas secretes a digestive fluid and also has an internal 

 secretion which, in some way not well understood, governs the 

 amount of sugar in the body. 



Give the composition of the secretion of the pancreas. 



The pancreatic fluid is an alkaline, clear, colorless fluid with 

 a saltish, unpleasant taste and a specific gravity of 1010 (in the 

 dog, it is viscid). It contains over 98 per cent, water, the balance 

 being salts, of which sodium chloride is the most important, and 

 organic matter which contains the active principles of the fluid. 

 These enzymes are amylopsin, steapsin, trypsin and rennin. 



Give the ferments of the pancreatic juice and state the function of each. 



1. Trypsin is a proteolytic enzyme which converts proteids into 

 pepsin. 



2. Amylopsin is a diastatic enzyme which converts starch into 

 sugar. 



3. Steapsin is a lipolytic enzyme which acts on fats. 



4. Rennin is a milk-curdling enzyme. 



What is the action of the pancreas on the production of glucose in 

 the urine and how is this action understood to be brought 

 about? 



If the pancreas be removed, glucose appears in the blood and is 

 separated by the kidneys, causing glycosuria. If only partly re- 

 moved, glycosuria occurs but to a lesser extent. It is not known 

 how this action occurs, but it is considered that the internal secre- 

 tion of the pancreas acts upon a ferment in the muscles and makes 

 the decomposition of sugar possible. 



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