Laevulose in the Blood of the Human Foetus.

THE presence of sugar in the foetal fluids of herbivora seems to have been first observed by Majewski [1858]. Noel Paton, Watson and Kerr [1907] pointed out that laevulose is the sugar of the amniotic and allantoic fluids of the cow, sheep, pig, cat, dog, rabbit, ferret and guinea-pig, and that it is also present in the blood and in the urine in the bladder of the foetus in the cow and sheep. Takata [1922] showed that laevulose is the sugar of the foetal fluids of the whale Balaenoptera. Sugar is not generally present in the amniotic fluid of the human subject, but Labat and Favreau [1921] state that it is occasionally found in small quantities. It seemed desirable to ascertain if the blood sugar in the human foetus is in whole or in part of the nature of laevulose. Thanks to the kindness of Dr Hewitt at the Royal Maternity Hospital, Glasgow, specimens of the mixed blood of several foetuses have been collected into alcohol from the placental end of umbilical cords at the time of birth.