108 L. B. WINTER AND W. SMITH.
the property of converting glucose and fructose to the form normally
present in the blood, and that the sugar in cases of diabetes is mainly
the a, f equilibrium form of glucose.
In Fig. 3 curves are shown of two diabetic cases with one normal for
COPPER VALUE
,//Jl DAYS
/ I ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~I I Ii
Fig. 3. Curves of polarimeter reading on successive days. I. Diabetic. II. Diabetic.
III. H. L. W. (normal). (The curves are scaled to a common copper value.)
comparison. As in Fig. 2 one copper line only has been taken, the curves
showing the polarimeter readings being scaled so that the ratio polari-
meter reading to copper reducing value is unaltered. It will be seen that
the diabetic curves approach the copper line from the opposite side to
that in the normal case.
One of the "normal" cases (J. C. C. P.) presented features differing
from those of the others. The subject had no diabetic history, and was
perfectly healthy. Determination of his blood sugar by Bang's old
method gave .17 p.c., which is abnormally high as is shown in the pro-
tocols. Even in the cases of feeding with sugar, this amount was not
reached. The maximum amounts so obtained were .13 p.c. with G. F. T.
after 150 grams of glucose, and .14 p.c. with W. S. after taking 100
grams of glucose. Further, the ratio of polarimeter to copper reduction
value was higher than in other experiments on normal persons. The
results we think were due to the psychological condition of the subject.
He was somewhat nervous about the operation, which is not entirely
painless, and nervous influences can affect the sugar content of the blood