A number of attempts to determine the impairment or loss of hepatic function by tests for dextrose tolerance have been reported in the literature. Jacobsen,1 Thannhauser and Pfitzer,2 Hamman and Hirschman,3 Friedenson and his co-workers,4 and John,5 among others, have applied the test in several diseases by studying the blood sugar at stated intervals after the injection of dextrose or after feeding it by mouth. In many instances a lowered tolerance for sugar has been noted in diseases involving the liver.
In a previous paper,6 evidence was presented that indicated that in the extreme stages of yellow fever the liver is unable to maintain the blood sugar at its normal level, partly because of a diminished supply of hepatic glycogen. The unusually high level of blood sugar observed in a few moribund animals after meals further suggested that the ability to dispose of administered dextrose was impaired. To secure more