214 
SACCHAltINK FUNCTION OF THE LIVER. 
sugar, had it contained any, no evidence of the presence of 
sugar was obtained. On the other hand, when saliva was 
added to the decoctions of the liver above spoken of, a great 
increase in the amount of sugar was observed. The quantity 
of sugar so obtained did not appear to be so great, however, 
as that yielded by a portion of the liver which remained all 
night untouched in the abdomen of the animal. 
Professor Garrod, F.R.S., who was present, not at the com¬ 
mencement of the experiment, but on the following day, when 
the different decoctions were tested, agreed with Professor 
Sharpey and n^self, that this experiment showed the truth 
of Bernard’s statement, that the liver might contain both sugar 
and glucogen, when the portal blood contained neither. 
The stomach and intestines of this animal were found void 
of food ; the large intestine only contained fascal matter. 
For the sake of still further assurance that the sugar found 
in the liver was neither due to some accidental cause, nor 
immediately derived from food, w’e determined to deprive an 
animal of food for some days before examining the liver. 
The following experiment was accordingly performed :— 
Exp. 6.—A very large and powerful dog, in admirable con¬ 
dition, w r as subject to a rigid fast for seventy-two hours— 
three full days. Immediately after death, by section of the 
medulla oblongata, a portion of the liver was sliced off and 
immersed in ice and salt. Blood was then collected from the 
following sources:— 
1st. From the portal vein. 
2dly. From the liver (i. e ., blood which flowed from the 
liver when a portion of it w r as sliced off). 
3dly. From the right side of the heart. 
4thly. From the aorta. 
othly. From the inferior vena cava. 
Although these bloods were all treated in a similar manner, 
and tested with the same quantities of copper and soda, yet 
none of them gave unequivocal evidence of the presence of 
sugar, except that from the liver. The blood from the right 
side of the heart gave doubtful evidence. At first sight it 
may appear strange that the blood from the right side of the 
heart should contain scarcely any appreciable quantity of 
sugar, while that of the liver showed its presence very ob¬ 
viously ; but this no doubt arose from the hepatic blood 
being in great part prevented from reaching the heart; 1st, 
on account of most of it escaping into the abdomen, when 
the portion of liver was cut off; and 2dly, on account of 
its flow being in great measure arrested by the ligature of the 
portal vessels. 
