To the Editor: —
The correspondence of Dr. Garfield G. Duncan on "The Clinical Application of Duodenal Extract in the Treatment of Diabetes" in The Journal, March 18, commands interest. Since Duncan and his associates (Duncan, G. G.; Shumway, N. P.; Williams, T. L., and Fetter, Ferdinand: Am. J. M. Sc.189:403 [March] 1935) administered their extract by mouth, it is not surprising that interest should attach to their therapy.The presence of a hypoglycemic factor in crude secretin was recognized almost from the very discovery of secretin by Bayliss and Starling (Bayliss, W. M., and Starling, E. H.: J. Physiol.25:325, 1902). As early as 1906, Moore, Eadie and Abrams reported seemingly good results with the use of hydrochloric acid extracts of the duodenum and upper part of the jejunum in clinical diabetes. Since then a great deal of experimental effort has been spent in isolating this