CHEMICAL, SCIENCE. 195 



which renders the notion that it might serve for the formation of the 

 latter very problematical. The iron, which is never absent, forms an 

 important constituent of the fibrine of the blood. I have not been able 

 in any manner to obtain fibrine of the blood free from iron. It has 

 been concluded, from the color of the ash left on its incineration, 

 which is sometimes perfectly white, that iron was absent ; but even 

 this white ash contains a considerable amount of iron. When blood 

 fibrine, which has been well washed, is covered with water in a well- 

 stopped vessel, and kept in a warm place, putrefaction soon ensues. 

 It gradually becomes disintegrated, and in about three weeks is almost 

 entirely dissolved, forming a slightly-colored liquid, in which some 

 black flakes are suspended, the color of which arises from sulphuret 

 of iron. This solution cannot be distinguished from a solution of al- 

 bumen ; it coagulates by heat, forming a gelatinous mass, which has 

 all the properties, as also the composition, of albumen. This albumen 

 is one of the most remarkable products of putrefaction. During the 

 decomposition a highly fetid volatile product is formed, with a small 

 quantity of free hydrogen. Liebig in the Annales de Chimie, Jan. 



EFFECT OF NITRIC ACID UPON BONES AND FLESH. 



DURING the trial of Dr. Webster in Boston, Professor Horsford 

 testified that he had tried experiments upon the effect of nitric acid in 

 dissolving bones and flesh. He selected the hock-bone of beef, using 

 the commercial nitric acid. In about four hours and twenty minutes 

 the bone had disappeared, and in an hour more the vessel was entirely 

 clear, with no trace of the bone. The flesh disappeared in three or 

 four hours. No smell was perceived. Professor Horsford thought it 

 would take rather more nitric acid than the weight of the whole flesh 

 arid bone to dissolve a human body. In the experiments a little more 

 than four pounds of acid were used to four pounds of bone. 



ON THE ACTION OF LIME ON ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUB- 

 STANCES. 



THE following statement concerning the action of lime on animal 

 and vegetable substances has been contributed to Jameson's Journal 

 for April, by Dr. John Davy. He says, "It is commonly asserted 

 and believed, that lime exercises a corroding, destructive influence on 

 animal matter in general, and that animal bodies exposed to its action 

 rapidly decompose and disappear. Accordingly, it has been almost 

 invariably recommended to add this earth to graves, in instances in 

 which a rapid decay is considered desirable, as on the occasion of the 

 crowding of grave-pits with dead bodies, during the prevalency of 

 pestilential diseases. From the results of many experiments which I 

 have made with lime on animal and vegetable substances, I have been 

 compelled to come to the conclusion, that this opinion is not w ? ell 

 founded ; indeed, that it is altogether erroneous." 



The method observed in the experiments was, to immerse the ani- 

 mal matter for trial in a paste of lime contained in a wide-mouther 



