ITS PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERS. 253 



amined by the methods adopted by four different experimenters respectively, 

 the results were as follows. The first specimen was the blood of a vigorous 

 man fifty years old. 



Becquerel v. Gorup- 



Scherer. and Kodier. Hofle. Besanr/. 



Water, . . . . 796 93 796.93 796.93 796.93 



Solid matters, . . . 203.07 203 07 203 07 203.07 



Fibrin, 1.95 1.95 1.95 1.95 



Corpuscles, .... 115.16 117.82 103.23 103.23 



Albumen, .... 58.82 63 87 50.84 70.75 



Extractive matters and salts, 27.14 19.43 47.05 27.14 



The second specimen was from a robust man twenty years old : 



Becquerel v. Gorup- 



Seherer. and Kodier. Hofle. Besanez. 



Water, .... 783.63 783.63 783.63 783.63 



Solid matters, . . . 216.37 216.37 216.37 216.37 



Fibrin, 1.56 1 56 1.56 1.5(5 



Corpuscles, .... 11354 131.52 115.12 115.12 



Albumen, .... 64.32 6591 51.76 62.74 



Extractive matters and salts, 36.95 17.38 47.93 36 95 



185. We have now to notice those less prominent components of the 

 Blood which have not been hitherto described in detail. Under the general 

 head of Fatty Matters are included several different kinds of fat; of which 

 the most important are the saponifiable fats, stearin, palmitin, and olein ; 

 the phosphorized fats or glycerin-phosphoric acids, which appear to originate 

 from the decomposition of Lecithin ( 54) in the blood, and cholesteriu. 

 The proportion of the saponifiable fats is always considerably increased 

 after food, the increase proceeding from the entrance of the oleaginous chyle 

 ( 153). The kind of food will, however, of course materially affect the 

 quantity of fat contained in the blood. Nasse found 2.6 parts of fat in 1000 

 of the blood of a dog that had been kept fasting for four days. After bread 

 diet it rose to 3.1 parts, after meat to 3.8, and after suet and starch to 4.1 

 parts in 1000. The following table represents the mean, maximum, and 

 minimum amounts of fatty substances in the healthy blood of Man (the 

 proportion in that of the female being almost precisely similar), according to 

 the analyses of MM. Becquerel and Rodier : 



Mean. Max. Min. 



Saponified fat, . . . 1.004 2.000 .700 



Phosphorized fat, . . .488 1.000 .270 



Cholesterin, 088 .175 .030 



Serolin, 020 .080 inappreciable. 



The source of the peculiar odor of the blood is probably a volatile fatty 

 acid, too minute in its amount to admit of being separately estimated. This 

 odor may be made much more apparent by treating the blood with sulphuric 

 acid, even after it has been long dried; and in all those animals which are 

 readily distinguishable by their odorous emanations, it may thus be made 

 so perceptible as to admit of their blood being distinguished (at least by an 

 individual possessed of a delicate sense of smell) through its scent alone. 

 Of this test use has been made with great advantage in juridical investiga- 

 tions. 1 



1 See M. Barruel's researches on this subject in Ann. d'Hygiene, etc., tomes i, ii, 

 and x. 



