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PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 



plied with blood-vessels, yet the finest injection failed to show any more vascular 

 spots where the foetal digitations might have been brought into more immediate 

 contact with the blood of the parent. I however was fortunate enough to 

 obtain a fish, in the uterus of which I discovered a considerable quantity of 

 fluid, and on collecting it, and submitting it to chemical tests, I found that this 

 fluid contained a considerable quantity of an animal substance, resembling, to a 

 certain extent, some of the compounds that are formed from albumen during 

 the process of digestion. The fluid was of yellowish color, translucent, depos- 

 ited on standing some small globules which under the microscope strongly 

 refracted the light, were not altered by acetic acid, but dissolved in ether ; 

 probably fat globules ; when heated, there was no coagulation, although the 

 fluid was not quite so clear ; solution of Hg CL caused no precipitate ; tannin 

 in solution caused a yellowish precipitate. In adding ether to a portion of the 

 fluid, there was a free disengagement of gas, a white flocculent precipitate was 

 formed, and on allowing the vessel to stand, the fluid separated itself into three 



Fig. 30. A Foetal Fish, about two-thirds grown, slightly enlarged. 



Fig. 31. A portion of Dorsal Fin of an almost mature foetal fish, about 



double the natural size. 



Fig. 32. A portion of a Digitation, magnified about 150 diameters, showing 



capillaries. 



