In 1901, Strauss1suggested the use of levulose for testing the function of the liver. Five years later, Richard Bauer,2of Vienna, introduced galactose for a similar purpose. While this phase of studies on the liver aroused considerable interest in England and on the continent, American literature on clinical medicine has given little consideration to the subject. American contributors have usually been concerned with levulose, while galactose has either been ignored or mentioned only with a word of condemnation. This is all the more strange since American biochemical literature is replete with contributions concerning the metabolism of this sugar. While working with Bauer in 1927, one of us was impressed with the information obtained through studies on galactose tolerance in various conditions of the liver. For the past two years we have been utilizing this test at the Jewish Hospital of Philadelphia in an attempt to satisfy ourselves as to