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Scientific Proceedings (127) 



period of two hours and the contents examined every ten 

 minutes. It was found that usually there is a distinct increase 

 in the cholesterol present in the duodenal contents after the ad- 

 ministration of the magnesium sulfate. After an hour the 

 cholesterol content decreases. 



The amount of cholesterol in the duodenal contents varies in 

 different patients, between 25 and 105 milligrams per 10 c. c. 

 in the fasting state. After the administration of the magnesium 

 sulfate, the amount of cholesterol is often tremendously in- 

 creased. This increase is very sudden and would give the im- 

 pression as if the gall bladder voided its concentrated bile into 

 the duodenum. 



77 (2037) 



The organic constituents of the saliva. 

 By HOWARD B. LEWIS and HELEN UPDEGRAFF. 



[From the Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry of the Univer- 

 sity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.] 



We have applied the recent method of Benedict for the deter- 

 mination of uric acid in blood to the filtrate obtained from 

 saliva by a slight modification of the Folin-Wu tungistic acid 

 precipitation method. Fifty-one samples of saliva from thirty 

 healthy men showed maximum and minimum contents of uric 

 acid of 2.9 and 0.6 mgs. per 100 c.c. of saliva, while fifteen 

 samples from ten women showed similar variations from 2.3 

 mg. to 0.7 mg. In more than fifty per cent, of the salivas ob- 

 tained from men, the uric acid content fell within a range of 

 1.6 to 2.1 mgs., while in the case of the women the values 

 ranged from 1.05 to LIS mgs. in more than fifty per cent, of 

 the salivas examined. Twenty-two samples collected at intervals 

 over a period of four months from the same woman showed 

 variations of from 1.5 mg. to 0.7 mg. Samples of saliva and 

 blood were collected simultaneously and analyzed for uric acid. 



