Abstract
Methods for the quantitative determination of ethanol in the brain have required that the tissue be fresh. A method has been devised in the hope that ethanol may be estimated after embalming of the body. The procedure of Gettler and Tiber, 1 is modified as follows: The tissue is steam distilled. The distillate is slowly re-fluxed with H2SO4 and K2Cr2O7 for 30 minutes, prior to distillation. This completely oxidizes the formaldehyde and methanol to CO2 and H2O, but the oxidation of ethanol is carried only to acetic acid. After distillation the acetic acid is determined by titration against N/20 NaOH. The ethanol in the tissue is calculated by the formula: 1 cc. of N/20 NaOH —’2.3 mg. ethanol. By this procedure ethanol can be accurately determined in a standard mixture of ethanol, methanol, formaldehyde and water.
Following the preliminary chemical study, the investigation was extended to 4 series of rabbits. Ten rabbits were given 6 gm. ethanol per kilo weight, by stomach tube and were killed 5 hours later by the neck stroke. The ethanol content of the brain varied from 0.36% to 0.45% with an average of 0.40%. A second group of 10 rabbits received the same treatment but wrere embalmed before analysis of the brains for ethanol. The figures varied from 0.21% to 0.52%, with an average of 0.34%.
A third group of 5 rabbits were killed and embalmed without the administration of ethanol. The figures for this series were practically identical with the figures from a fourth series of 5 control rabbits which were killed and whose brains were analyzed immediately for ethanol, namely about 0.005%.
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