170 



Scientific Proceedings (76). 



the opposite (namely, a building up of glycogen out of the injected 

 sugar) must be taking place. In previous investigations, in which 

 neutral solutions were employed, no retention of dextrose by the 

 liver could be demonstrated when about 0.5 gm. was injected into 

 the portal circulation during five minutes. 



In the present investigation, the injected dextrose solution 

 was either faintly acid or strongly alkaline, the latter reaction 

 being obtained by adding from 5 to 20 gm. Na 2 C0 3 (anhydrous) 

 to 120 c.c. of the solution. At the rates of injection employed, a 

 distinct change occurred in the H-ion concentration of the blood 

 of the portal vein, but much less so in that of the vena cava, as 

 judged by the dialysis-colorimetric method of Levy, Rowntree 

 and Marriott. 



In most of the experiments the reducing power of the blood 

 was determined by the method of Lewis and Benedict as modified 

 by R. G. Pearce. In two experiments the Bertrand method was 

 employed after precipitation of the proteins by colloidal iron. 

 The following table depicts some of the most typical results. 



TABLE 



Average Per Cent. Reducing Power of Blood 



No. 



Before Injection. 



During Injection. 



Amount of 

 Dextrose Injected 

 in 5 Minutes. 



In Portal Vein. 



In Vena Cava. 



In Portal Vein. 



In Vena Cava. 



19 



O.070 



0.068 



O.I53 



O.IO4 



1.6 gm. 



20 



O.067 



O.072 



O.098 



0.086 



I-3S " 



25 



O.IOI 



0.102 



O.190 



0.129 



0.51 " 



32 



0.086 



0.088 



O.208 



0.127 



O.50 " 



27 





0.126 



O.209 



0.158 



O.48 " 



30 





O.I25 



O.196 



0.100 



O.36 " 



In Experiments 19, 20, 25, and 31 the picric acid method was 

 employed, and in 27 and 30 that of Bertrand. 



Control experiments in which the dextrose solution was made 

 faintly acid, or contained an excess of sodium chloride (16 per cent.) 

 did not reveal any such difference in the reducing power of the 

 two bloods. Neither did injections of acid or alkali alone cause 

 any difference. Many other details remain to be further investi- 

 gated. For the present, however, the results clearly demonstrate 

 that, when dextrose is injected in moderate amounts into the 



