Mr. Sharpe on the vitrified Port of Dunnochgoil. 123 



I think it more frequently happens that some salt containing a 

 combustible acid, e. g. the acetate of soda, is actually secreted ; 

 and that this, by being decomposed by the free muriatic acid, 

 gives origin to the apparent presence of free acetic acid. 



In conclusion, it may be observed that, during the long 

 period that my attention has been turned to this interesting 

 subject, a great many curious and most important facts have 

 come to my knowledge : in some of these I have been an- 

 ticipated by Messrs. T. and G. ; while others appear to have 

 escaped their observation, or probably did not occur to them. 

 But when I make this statement, I wish it to be distinctly un- 

 derstood that I am very far from accusing these gentlemen of 

 chemical ignorance, because they failed to point out what pro- 

 bably was not present in the substances they examined, or of 

 charging them with denying, generally, the existence of every 

 thing else that did not happen to fall within the limits of their 

 own observation ; — charges which these gentlemen, from not 

 sufficiently attending to the general character of my brief 

 announcement, have inadvertently brought against me under 

 very similar circumstances. 



XXI. On the vitrified Fort of Dunnochgoil, in the Isle of Bute, 

 By Samuel Sharpe, Esq. F.G.S.* 



r |^HE fort is on a rocky point at the south-west corner of 

 ■*- the Isle of Bute, perhaps the point nearest to the Isle of 

 Arran. It is at some distance from trees, habitations, and 

 higher ground. 



There remains now little more than the ground-plan, which 

 may be traced by the vitrified foundations ; but at one part the 

 wall is more than a foot high, built of rough stones not much 

 larger than bricks, and by vitrifaction formed into one solid 

 mass, much like the slag of a furnace. 



The parts can best be described by reference to the follow- 

 ing figure. 



From q there is a gradual ascent to the outer chamber 

 e fgh> which appears to have been surrounded on two sides 



the patient smelt strongly of vinegar ; the saliva and fluids occasionally 

 ejected from the stomach contained also the same acid in abundance, as 

 apparently did the perspirable fluid ; for the whole body exhaled a strong 

 odour somewhat like sour milk : during this time the urine was strongly 

 alkalescent. In another anomalous case, 1 have seen the blood itself strongly 

 acid ; the acid was of a combustible nature, but from peculiar circumstances 

 it was not satisfactorily proved to be vinegar, though this was probably the 

 case. 



* Communicated by the Author. 



It 2 ef 



