lx GENERAL SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC AND 



the air, or placed in an exhausted receiver, he believes that 

 it is due to carbonic acid. 



Miescher has discovered in the spermatozoids of the Rhine 

 salmon a new base, having the composition C 9 H 20 N 5 O 2 (OH), 

 which he calls protamine. It exists in the sperm in combi- 

 nation with nuclein. 



Schenk has made a series of experiments on the effect of 

 muscular activity upon the decomposition of albumin. He 

 comes to the same conclusion which was reached Ions' a^o 

 by Parkes and by Noyes, that there is no regular and close 

 connection between muscular activity and the excretion of 

 urea. 



Hoppe-Seyler has given the following simple method for 

 preparing uraematin, the normal coloring-matter of the mine, 

 from haematin, the coloring-matter of the blood : an alcohol- 

 ic solution of haematin is treated with tin and hydrochloric 

 acid; on evaporation a substance is left, brownish-red by trans- 

 mitted, and a beautiful gold-yellow green by reflected light, 

 corresponding in its deportment with urobilin. This sub- 

 stance is also produced by the reduction of urohaematin. The 

 author, therefore, believes that bilirubin and biliverdin, the 

 biliary coloring -matters, as well as urohsematin and urobi- 

 lin, are only stages in the reduction of haematin. Baumstark 

 has described two new pathological coloring-matters obtain- 

 ed from the urine of a patient suffering from lepra. The one 

 is blue-black in color, soluble in alkalies with a garnet-red 

 color, and has the composition C 68 H 94 N 8 Fe 2 26 , or haematin 

 in which H 8 is replaced by C 4 . It is called uro-rubro-haema- 

 tin. The other is black, soluble in alkalies with a brown col- 

 or, and contains C 68 H 106 N 8 O 26 , or haematin in which the iron 

 is replaced by hydrogen. He calls it uro-fusco- haematin. 

 Hilger has sought to determine the cause of the peculiar 

 odor communicated to the urine after eating asparagus. No 

 asparagin could be detected ; nor could any volatile organic 

 body be isolated from the distillate, which possessed the char- 

 acteristic odor. Comparatively large quantities of ammo- 

 nium succinate were found, the hippuric acid was increased, 

 and benzoic acid was detected. Donath has made some ex- 

 periments to determine the cause of the acid reaction of urine. 

 He shows that either hippuric, uric, or benzoic acid, on being 

 added to disodium phosphate, withdraws sodium, and forms 



