820 Experiments 



March 26. Decompression. 



A. Foul odor; coagulation; I close it with a flame. 



B. No odor; liquid in two clearly distinct layers; closed with a 

 flame. 



May 15. A. Explosion when the tube is opened; foul odor; vege- 

 tation on the surface. 



B. Not coagulated; no explosion when the tube is opened; very 

 slight acidity; agreeable sourish odor, like that of cider; no vegetation 

 on the surface; closed with a flame. 



June 10. Spontaneous explosion of tube B; however, little odor.; 

 matter acid, coagulated. 



Eggs then do not decay either during or after decompression 

 when they are protected from the germs of the air. But they 

 finally have an acid reaction, which, without developing an odor, 

 causes their albumen to coagulate. That would be an exceedingly 

 interesting chemical phenomenon to study in detail. 



These different experiments then show very clearly that when 

 the experimental precautions which I have stressed are taken, 

 meat, eggs, blood, that is, the most corruptible of substances, are 

 preserved without putrefaction by oxygen at high tension. When 

 withdrawn from the apparatus and kept in closed vessels, they 

 remain indefinitely without putrefying, but at the same time under- 

 going certain changes which would make them unfit for customary 

 uses. 



2. Coagulation of Milk. 



Milk, upon which I experimented from the double point of view 

 of putrefaction and coagulation, caused me a good deal of trouble 

 on the latter score. 



Experiment CCCCXXII. August 8. Milk, placed in 3 small well- 

 washed bottles. 



A. Left at normal pressure. 



B. Placed in a compression receiver and taken to 4 atmospheres 

 of air. 



C. Taken to 7 atmospheres of air with 70% of oxygen, equivalent 

 to 24 atmospheres of air. 



August 15. A. B. C. Milk sour; all clotted. 



Experiment CCCCXXIII. January 27. Milk placed in 2 small simi- 

 lar bottles. 



A. Closed with a cork stopper. 



B. The same, but the stopper has a glass capillary tube through 

 it; the bottle is subjected, in the glass cylindrical receiver, to a pres- 

 sure of 10 atmospheres, with air containing 84% of oxygen. The oxy- 

 gen tension, 840, is therefore equivalent to 42 atmospheres of air. 



B. Appears to be curding a little more slowly than A. 



