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The content of dextrose in the circulating blood of normal animals is almost constant, it amounts to about 0.1 percent. The carbohydrates of the foodstuffs form the main source of dextrose in the body. On their way from the digestive tract the carbohydrates are transformed into various forms of saccharides; but all are finally converted largely into glycogen, which is stored up mostly in the liver. The blood obtains its supply of dextrose from the glycogen of the liver, and distributes it among the tissues of the body according to their demand for it. In the normal animal none of the dextrose escapes through the kidneys. Accordingly the constancy of the amount of dextrose in the blood is regulated by a mechanism which controls either of the two factors; the supply of or the demand for it.In diabetes the dextrose content of the blood is higher than normal, is variable in amount, and, when it is sufficiently high, dextrose escapes through the kidneys. The cause of the increase of the blood dextrose, or hyperglycaemia, may be found either in a decrease in the demand of the tissues for dextrose, that is, the tissues burn dextrose less readily than in normal conditions; or in an increase in the supply, that is, the liver supplies the blood with more dextrose than in normal conditions. 338

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