176 
Lecithin. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharni. 
April,  1914. 
the  results  obtained  by  Slowtzoff,  Stassano  and  Billon.  According 
to  these  authors,  lecithin  is  not  by  any  means  readily  decomposed  and 
it  is  doubtful  whether  it  is  decomposed  by  the  action  of  putrefactive 
bacteria  and  pancreatic  ferment.  Thus  Stassano  and  Billon  found 
that  neither  activated  pancreatic  juice  nor  gastric  juice  acts  upon 
lecithin;  this  was  confirmed  by  SlowtzofT  for  fresh  lecithin,  but  he 
observed  the  decomposition  of  older  (oxidised)  lecithin.  He  also 
confirmed  the  observation  that  choline  was  separated  from  lecithin 
which  had  been  stored  for  some  time,  even  when  boiled,  alkaline 
ferment  solution  was  used.  Independently  of  the  separation  of  cho- 
line, saponification  of  lecithin  by  means  of  pancreatic  juice, — e.g., 
by  steapsin,  apparently  occurs.  As  lecithin  is  readly  emulsified  in 
the  presence  of  bile  and  albumoses,  and  as  Stassano  and  Billon 
claimed  to>  have  observed  that  lecithin,  when  injected  subcutaneously, 
was  taken  up  by  the  leucocytes  which  had  migrated  to  the  site  of 
injection,  and  that  by  feeding  on  lecithin  the  latter  apparently  passed 
into  the  lymph  of  the  thoracic  duct,  SlowtzofT  conducted  experiments 
which  showed  that  lecithin,  when  administered  internally,  is  in  part 
ingested  unchanged,  as  could  be  recognised  by  the  appearance  of 
lecithin  in  the  lymph.  As  regards  the  splitting  up  of  lecithin  in  the 
intestine,  it  occurs,  according  to  SlowtzofT,  in  the  duodenum  where 
it  cannot,  in  his  opinion,  be  caused  by  putrefactive  bacteria. 
The  results  of  the  investigations  of  the  observers  mentioned 
above  lead  to  the  assumption  that  the  lecithin  taken  in  witji  the 
food  is  partly  absorbed  as  such  and  partly  split  up.  SlowtzofT  as- 
sumes that  like  the  fats  it  can  be  gradually  reconstructed  in  the 
organism  by  synthesis.  The  proof  of  this  may  be  sought  in  the  fact 
that  the  same  or  very  similar  results  have  been  achieved  in  therapy 
with  the  salts  of  glycerophosphoric  acid  (compare  Merck's  Report 
191 1,  pages  1  to  30)  as  with  lecithin. 
With  regard  to  the  action  on  lecithin  and  its  decomposition  by 
ferments  (lipase,  diastase)  reference  may  also  be  made  to  the  pub- 
lications of  Lapidus  and  Terroine. 
The  investigations  carried  out  by  Glikin  are  of  much  value  for 
the  biological  significance  of  lecithin.  He  points  out  that  birds  and 
mammals  show  a  greater  or  less  content  of  lecithin  in  the  bones  or 
the  whole  body,  according  as  to  whether  they  are  born  naked  and 
helpless,  or  independent  and  with  their  senses  developed.  Thus  the 
amount  of  lecithin  in  cats  and  dogs,  which  are  born  blind  and  help- 
less, is  greater  than  that  in  guinea-pigs,  which  immediately  after 
