SYNTHESIS OF FATS ACCOMPANYING INTESTINAL ABSORPTION 33 
mass was obtained, which was gathered into a heap on the glass plate and chopped 
with the knife. It was then transferred to a mortar and rubbed up either alone or 
mixed with fine sand. Portions were then weighed out and extracted with 
appropriate quantities of the various extractives for varying times in an incubator at 
36° c. 
In those cases where the action of the cells was to be tested, the ingredients to 
be acted upon were added in weighed quantities before this first period of digestion 
in the incubator. In some cases chloroform was added as a preservative, but in 
others, to prevent any paralyzing action upon the cells, this re-agent was left out. 
In the cases where the action of extracts only of the cells was to be tested, the 
tissue treated as above described was allowed to undergo digestion for a variable 
period, in presence of chloroform, 1 to prevent bacterial growth. The extract was then 
filtered, afterwards thoroughly centrifugalized, and the clear extract used for the 
experiments. In the case of the pancreas and abdominal lymphatic glands, the tissue 
was first finely minced and subsequently treated in similar fashion to the intestinal 
mucosa. 
The strength of the extract employed was varied in the different experiments, 
and the strength is stated in each case. The soap used was sodium oleate, which 
was prepared from pure olive oil. The oleic acid obtained by hydrolysis of this soap 
had a melting point of 1 7*5° C, and 0*2 1 4 gramme required 7*6 c.c. of ' caustic soda 
for neutralization, the theoretical amount being 7*57 c.c. 
Series i 
Experiment 1. The small intestine of a cat in which digestion, chiefly of 
bread, was going on, but no fat was visible in the lacteals, was treated as above 
described, saline being used as the washing fluid. 
A quantity of about 20 grammes of mucosa was obtained, and digested with 
four times its volume of normal saline for ninety hours in an incubator at 33 0 C. The 
extract was then filtered and centrifugalized, when a perfectly clear, slightly yellow, 
solution was obtained. 
Ten cubic centimetres of this fluid were taken in a test tube, and, after the 
addition of o*2 gramme of sodium oleate and 0*052 gramme of glycerine, the mixture 
was placed in a bath at a temperature of 38*5° C. The test tube was agitated after it 
had attained the temperature of the bath until all the oleate added had dissolved to 
a clear solution. 
After an interval of one hour a few oily globules were visible under the 
microscope. 
Next morning, an interval of seventeen hours thirty minutes having elapsed 
since the commencement of the experiment, the fluid was yellow and cloudy, like an 
1. To this end, also, the saline, or water, used as an extractive was sterilized by previously boiling and allowing to cool 
before use. This was found to be a very useful precaution. 
F 
