1897.] Pylorie Ceca of Asterias Vulgaris. 1037 
allowed to boil for some time ; the liquid was then filtered off 
and Pfliger’s method for extracting glycogen? was carefully 
carried out. At the end of the process a portion of the result- 
ing liquid gave with dilute iodine a very slight mahogany 
color, which seemed to indicate the presence of a little glyco- 
gen. But on boiling the remaining portion of the extract with 
dilute hydrochloric acid for half an hour, and then neutraliz- 
ing with sodium hydrate, no substance was produced which 
would reduce Fehling’s solution. The total amount of glyco- 
gen present in the glands of these twenty star-fishes must, there- 
fore, have been very small, thus indicating that these organs 
do not possess a function characteristic of the true livers of 
higheranimals. The following experiment also confirmed this 
view: Working upon the supposition that if glycogen were 
present in the pyloric cases, it would almost immediately be 
converted into glucose, the glands of several star-fishes were 
removed and allowed to stand in an open dish for about half - 
an hour. At the end of that period a cold water extract was 
made of one portion while a hot water extract was made of 
another part. Both extracts were subjected to the test for 
glucose with Fehling’s solution, and neither gave the slightest 
reduction, thus showing that the glands contained no glucose, 
and hence no antecedant of glucose in the form of glycogen. 
C. EXAMINATION FOR DIGESTIVE FERMENTs. 
I. Proteolytic Ferment. 
In carrying out this examination the proteid used was co- 
agulated egg albumen, which was experimented upon in the 
following manner: 
The white of one boiled egg was cut into small pieces and 
placed in 1000 cc. of a mixture of a 1 per cent. solution of sod- 
ium carbonate (Na, CO,) and sodium bi-carbonate (NaHCO,) 
to which was added 100 cc. of a fresh water extract of the py- 
loric ceca of the star-fish and the whole was digested for 48 
hours at a temperature of 37°C, the medium being kept free 
from bacteria by the presence of thymol. At the end of this 
2 Pfliiger’s Archiv. fur Physiologie, 1894, pp. 394-396. 
