20 



ON ALBUMEN AND OTriER ANIMAL FLUIDS. 



Other mucus 

 timiiar. 



Alkalis and 

 acids given 

 out. 



Alkali appa- 

 rently predo- 

 minant. 



Is mucus a 

 compound of 

 albumen with 

 soda or its mu- 

 riate ? 



Bile. 



Albumen in it 

 v le ;n 

 quantity, 



and proporti- 

 onate to the re- 

 sin. 



considerable and rapid coagulation takes place at the nega- 

 tively electrified wire. 



3. Mucus of the Trachea, $c. 



The other varieties of mucus, as from the trachea, the 

 nose, &c, agree with the former, in affording abundance of 

 albumen by electric decomposition; whereas scarcely any 

 traces of th ; s substance can be detected by the tests of acids, 

 beat, or alcohol. 



In these experiments, alkaline matter was always evolved 

 at the negative, and acid at the positive wire. Minute re- 

 searches, made with a view of ascertaining the nature of the 

 alkaline and acid matter thus evolved, showed the former to 

 consist of soda, with traces of lime; the latter of muriatic 

 acid, with traces of phosphoric acid in the cases of saliva, 

 and mucus of the trachea and nose: the mucus of the oyster 

 afforded only soda and muriatic acid. 



On examining the proportions of alkali and acid, the for- 

 mer seemed always to predominate, although in the original 

 fluids no traces of uncombined alkali (as in the white of 

 egg) are to be detected. 



These results lead to new ideas respecting the composition 

 of mucus: Is it a peculiar combination of muriate of soda 

 and albumen? or may it not be a compound of soda and 

 albumen, in which the alkali is not separable by the usual 

 modes of analysis, but which yields to the superior decom- 

 posing energy of electricity ? 



4. Bile. 



An immediate coagulation took place in this secretion, at 

 the negative conductor, the albumen being tinged through- 

 out of a green colour, arising from the colouring matter at 

 the same time separated. 



The relative proportion of albumen, separable by electri- 

 c from different specimens of ox-bile, was found to be 

 liable to considerable variation, so that a detailed analysis of 

 this fluid cannot be generally depended upon. I have found 

 the albumen in bile to vary in quantity from 0*5 to three 

 per cent, and it is somewhat remarkable, that where there 

 is a small quantity of albumen, there likewise the proportion 

 of the resinous matter of bile is relatively small. 



The 



