1895 - 96 .] D. Noel Paton on Relationship of Liver to Fats. 23 
posed of lecithin. When fat accumulates in the liver, the pro- 
portion of lecithin falls. In connection with the function of this 
hepatic lecithin, the part played by lecithin in the egg, as the 
store material for the phosphorus of the embryo, is pointed out, 
and it is concluded that the function of the hepatic lecithin is to 
fix phosphorus as a step towards its synthesis into the nucleo- 
compounds of the body. 
The possibility of determining the amount of free fatty acids in 
the ether extract of the liver is considered, and it is shown that 
Hofmann’s conclusions are valueless. 
The amount of cholesterin is found to be smaller than that 
indicated by Kausch : in rabbits there is an average of O039 
per cent., and in cats 0'029 per cent, of the liver. In estimating 
the fatty acids, the cholesterin may thus be disregarded. 
The percentage of ether extract not combined with fatty acids is 
shown to vary greatly. On an average it amounts to 10 per cent. 
The nature of this is not considered. 
Taking the fatty acids as a measure of the amount of fats, the 
influence of various conditions on the liver fats is investigated. 
A. Starvation. 
It is shown that after three days’ starvation in cats, and after 
four days’ in pigeons, the average amount of fatty acids in the liver 
is maintained. The importance of this in fixing waste phosphorus 
as lecithin as a step to its reconversion to nucleo-compounds is 
indicated. 
B. Influence of various Foods. 
1. Fats . — That the fats of the food are largely stored in the 
liver of certain animals is shown by experiments on cats and rats. 
That when so stored they are afterwards (in cats in about seventy 
hours) either metabolised in the organ or exported from it is 
also shown. That the former process goes on was indicated in 
considering the function of lecithin. 
2. Carbohydrates . — The generally accepted statement that the 
amount of glycogen and fat corresponds is disproved. Food rich 
in carbohydrates is shown to increase the liver fats. The question 
of the source of these fats is investigated, and it is shown that as 
