274 Drs. Lochhead and Cramer. Gilycogenic Changes [Jan. 1, 
placenta, both maternal and foetal, are given in Table VI. Rabbit A was fed 
on a diet rich in carbohydrates for 24 hours before it was killed. Six others 
were fed on a similar diet from the beginning of pregnancy, but results were 
only obtained in three (Rabbits B, ©, and D), as the remaining three aborted 
about mid-term. 
In addition, in these experiments the liver glycogen of the mother animals 
was also determined. Burlando* has recently stated that in dogs the liver 
glycogen increases markedly during pregnancy; but this is not borne out 
here. The percentages are no higher than those commonly found after such 
a diet in non-pregnant animals. 
With each the control from the normal series is given. 
The results show a remarkable correspondence with those obtained on 
ordinary feeding. There is no increase in the placental store of glycogen as 
the result of a diet rich in carbohydrate. 
The amount of glycogen present in the placenta appears to be independent 
of the conditions of diet and regulated entirely by the needs of the foetus, a 
fact which is of importance in the development of the embryo. Nor has 
feeding with an excess of carbohydrates any effect on the date at which the 
foetal liver assumes its glycogenic function or on the amount stored in the 
later stages. The glycogen percentage of the rest of the foetal bodies and the 
weight of the foetus were also not affected by the variation of diet. 
The results obtained in this series corroborate those of the more complete 
age-serles examined under normal conditions. The constancy in the amount 
of glycogen deposited in the placenta and in the fcetal tissues at the various 
periods of foetal life contrasts markedly with the fluctuations in the glycogen 
store of the adult liver, both in the normal and, as our figures show, in the 
pregnant animal, and demonstrates again the autonomy of the glycogen 
metabolism of the foetus. 
EK. Liffect of Injections of Phloridzn. 
In order to induce experimentally a diminution of the glycogen store, and 
in this way to study further the relation which we have found to exist 
between glycogen and the growth of the foetus, two pregnant animals were 
treated with phloridzin for a prolonged period. The treatment had a very 
marked effect, because the substance probably passed through the placenta 
and exerted its action directly on the foetus, and not only mediately through 
the maternal organism. 
0-6 gramme of phloridzin was injected daily into the mother animals 
from the 8th day of gestation, the time when, according to Chipman, glycogen 
* Burlando, ‘ Archiv. Ital. di Ginec.,’ 1906, p. 246. 
