Bed Corpuscles of the Blood. 81 



bonate was abundant in the ashes. I now digested a portion 

 of the clot of this blood in aether, and found that the fats so 

 extracted yielded an ash on incineration, having a very pow- 

 erful acid reaction. The fats obtained from the serum by 

 means of aether yielded an alkaline ash. 



Exp. 4. Blood was drawn from the temporal artery of a 

 man suffering from a disease of the eyes. It was brightly 

 arterial, and did not buff or cup on coagulation. On exami- 

 nation, the serum of this blood gave no evidence of the pre- 

 sence of an alkaline carbonate, but the alkaline phosphate was 

 in abundance. 



The fats extracted from the clot by means of aether afforded 

 an ash possessiug a very alkaline reaction. The fats obtained 

 from the serum also yielded an alkaline ash. 



Exp. 5. A spaniel dog was bled from the jugular vein. 

 Half this blood was immediately corked up in a bottle, the 

 other half was arterialized by passing air through it, by means 

 of a glass tube affixed to a pair of common bellows. On 

 examining the serum from these specimens, that obtained from 

 the portion of blood which had been arterialized, as above de- 

 scribed, gave plentiful indications of an alkaline phosphate, 

 and none whatever of an alkaline carbonate; while that from 

 the other portion gave no indications of an alkaline phosphate, 

 but very satisfactory evidence of the presence of an alkaline 

 carbonate in the ashes. "T ^*~$ /vf-o-v- 6<4*tL J .. 



Exp. 6. A pmtTorTof blood was drawn from the jugular 

 vein of the same dog that had served for Exp. 5. Half this 

 blood was immediately shaken up with an equal bulk of recti- 

 fied aether. 



The mixture was set aside for twenty-four hours, and the 

 aether which had collected on the surface was then poured off. 

 The mass of blood below was now subjected to the action of 

 a current of air passed briskly through it. No brightening of 

 colour took place now that the aether had removed the fatty 

 matters. 



Exp. 7- The serum was poured off from the other half of 

 the blood drawn for Exp. 6, and the crassamentum broken up 

 in a dry basin. Distilled water was now added ; and a large 

 quantity of corpuscles being thus burst, a solution of red co- 

 louring matter was obtained. 



This mixture was filtered through blotting-paper, and the 

 clear solution placed in a vessel containing plates of metallic 

 zinc*. The metal precipitated the colouring matter after a 



* In order to effect this precipitation, it is necessary either largely to 

 dilute the solution, or to use a very large surface of zinc, otherwise the 

 precipitate will adhere to the zinc, and prevent further action. A piece of 

 platinum affixed to the zinc assists the action greatly. 



