SACCHARINE FUNCTION OF THE LIVER. 
213 
Exp. 4.—A small, but full-grown dog was fed during four¬ 
teen days solely on animal food. Four hours after a meal 
of boiled horseflesh he was killed by section of the medulla 
oblongata. The abdomen was rapidly opened, and a portion 
of liver cut OS’ and instantly immersed in a freezing mixture 
of ice and salt. A second portion of liver was as speedily as 
possible detached, and quickly washed in cold water. The 
latter portion was then, without loss of time, cut into frag¬ 
ments, which were allowed to fall directly into boiling aci¬ 
dulated water. On testing the clear filtrate, distinct evidence 
of the presence of sugar was obtained. After half an hour, 
the frozen portion of liver was taken, without being allowed 
to thaw, and sliced directly into the boiling water with acetic 
acid. The clear liquid yielded in this case as distinct evi¬ 
dence of sugar as in the other. Forty minutes after the 
death of the animal, another portion of liver, which till then 
had remained undisturbed in the abdomen, was treated like 
the others. This gave evidence of containing a much 
greater quantity of sugar, thus confirming Bernard’s state¬ 
ment, that the transformation of glucogen goes on in the 
liver, after its removal from the body, or after the death of 
the animal. 
In order to be perfectly certain that the sugar found in the 
liver at the instant of its removal from the body w'as really 
formed where it w ? as found, and not carried there by the 
portal blood from the food, the following experiment w r as 
performed: 
Exp. 5. —A dog w r as fed during ten days on boiled tripe. 
Twenty-two hours after the last meal the dog was pithed. 
In less than twenty seconds, a portion of the liver was in 
the freezing mixture of ice and salt. While I boiled directly 
another portion of liver, Professor Sharpey put a ligature on 
the portal vein, and collected its blood. He likewise col¬ 
lected some of the hepatic blood which flowed from the cut 
liver. 
In the portal blood not a trace of sugar could be detected. 
The hepatic blood, on the other hand, gave distinct evidence 
of its presence. Both bloods were tested exactly alike. The 
clear liquids obtained from the frozen liver and from the por¬ 
tion treated directly, notwithstanding that they were filtered 
while hot, and also tested while still hot, both gave distinct 
evidence of sugar. On the following day, a second portion of 
portal blood, which had been purposely kept all night in order 
to ascertain if, on standing some time, sugar would form in it, 
still yielded the same negative result. Even after treating it 
with saliva, which would have transformed its glucogen into 
