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Summary.  Some practical and theoretical objections against the viscosimetric assay of hyaluronidase as generally employed have been advanced.  A simplified method for the preparation of hyaluronate from vitreous humor, synovial fluid and umbilical cords has been worked out and some properties of the preparations determined.  A method for the assay of hyaluronidase using viscosity measurements has been worked out based on the demonstration that the enzymatic depolymerisation follows a monomolecular reaction scheme. The reaction constant under specified conditions is used as a measure of hyaluronidase activity.  The feasibility of defining an international unit of hyaluronidase based on measurement of the reaction constant is discussed.

Ethanol is normally metabolized at a constant rate by the liver of man and animals. Attempts to change this rate have included treatment with metabolically active substances such as glucose, pyruvate, amino acids, dinitrophenol, insulin, and thyroid hormone. In some cases an increase has been observed, but usually only a very small one. The only exception so far discovered is the effect of fructose, first demonstrated by Stuhlfauth and Neumaier (1). This was confirmed by Pletscher, Bernstein, and Staub (2), who found an average increase in the elimination rate of ethanol of 80% in dogs receiving 1 to 2 g of fructose per kg per hour, and about 70% in human subjects who had fructose infused intravenously in comparable quantities (3). Oral ingestion of fructose in man gave the same result (4). Smaller or no effects have also been reported (5, 6), but in these cases the amount of fructose given was probably -insufficient.Several explanations of the phenomenon (which we shall refer to as the "fructose effect") have been offered, but since none of them were supported by direct experimental evidence, a detailed, quantitative investigation of the problem appeared desirable. Furthermore, it was of interest to study the circulatory and metabolic reactions of the liver during accelerated ethanol metabolism, as previous studies have shown that under normal con-

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