JPftlMARY ANIMAL FLUIDS^ , g53 



tus, but does not in any degree afFeft jelly. The oxymutiate 

 of mercury, on the contrary, which is one of the moil accu- ^ 



rate lefts of albumen, does not appear to be aflFecled either by ' 



jelly or by mucus. 



Albumen, jelly, and mucus, I am inclined to confider as Thefe arc fhe 

 the only primary fluids which are difperfed through the differ- P'''""'y ?J^*^ ^* 

 ent parts of the body. Particular veflels or glands contain 

 and fecrete partlcalar fluids, wliich cannot be relolved inl6 

 Other fluids without decompolition, as thefibrine of the blood, 

 the refin oF the bile> the uree of the kidney, &c. but thefie 

 are in all inftances confined to their appropriate organs, and 

 do not necefiarily enter into the prefent inveftigation. 



' From the above experiments I think we may be entitled to Refumptlon. 

 lay down, with a confiderabie degree of accuracy, the leading -^'^""^^n «s 



. . -, knowa by its 



charaderiftics of the three primary animal fluids, and to efta- coagulability, 0.^4 

 blifli tefts by which their prefence may be minutely afcertained. P'ecip. by ox. 

 The mod remarkable property of albumen is its becoming 

 coagulated by heat, a property which it retains fo far as to 

 communicate a degree of opacity to its folution in water, when 

 it forms only r5%-^ part of its weight. A folution of the fame 

 ftrength has its albumen precipitated by theoxymuriate of mer- 

 cury, and this teft will indicate its prefence when compofing 

 i>o more than — oW ^^ ^^^ mixture. The tanning principle, 

 the aqua lithargyri acetati, the nitrate of filver, and the nitro- 

 muriate of gold, are all tefts of the prefence of albumen 

 nearly as minute as the oxymuriate of mercury, but they ^re 

 lefs valuable, becaufe their effects are not confined to albumen. 

 The nitro-muriate of tin and alum are alfo precipitants of al- 

 bumen, but they are lefs delicate in their operation than the 

 reagents enumerated above. 



The peculiar charaOeriftic of jelly is ila property of be- jei?y is known 

 coming concrete by cold, and being again rendered fluid by a ^y^^^ concretion 



, , , r ,,.?,. . .on cooling an^i 



gentle heat: we have found that its lolution m water retains j^^ p^ecip. by 

 this property when it compofes -^^-q part only of the weight oftaiw 

 the fluid. Tan is a ftill more minute teft of jelly than of albu- 

 men, but jelly is not in the leaft degree afteded by the oxy^ 

 muriate of mercury, and may thus in all cafes be eafily diftin- 

 gaidied from it. No QlTe6t h produced in jelly by Goulard, 

 and fcarcely any by the nitrate of filver, and the nitro-muriate 

 of tin, when it is in a ttate of fuch dilution. By means of 

 tan, jelly may be eafily deteOed in a fluid of which it forms 

 only icWP^rt. 



3 The 



