161 



guished from the blood by the large proportion of free acid it con- 

 tains. This remarkable animal fluid has been found, by Liebig, to 

 contain phosphoric and lactic acids in large quantity, inosiiiic acid 

 in small proportion, and some other acids not yet studied; also, 

 potash in large quantity with a little soda, a considerable proportion 

 of magnesia, and a little lime, chloride of potassium, with a little 

 chloride of sodium, and, besides some compounds of animal origin 

 not yet investigated, the new base Kreatinine, and the very remarkable 

 substance, Kreatine, first discovered by Chevreul, but in vain sought 

 for by Berzelius and other chemists. 



He then described the process, essentially that of Liebig, by which 

 kreatine is extracted from the flesh of quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, 

 in all of which hitherto tried, it has been found, although in small 

 and variable quantity. A table was exhibited, shewing the per- 

 centage obtained from different kinds of flesh and fish, and the re- 

 sult was, that this interesting substance may be most easily and 

 cheaply prepared from fish, especially cod, herring, salmon, and 

 mackerel, all of which yielded much more than beef or horse-flesh, 

 and nearly as much as fowl, which was the most productive. The 

 maximum proportion of kreatine was 3-2 per 1000 parts of flesh. 

 The average about 1*5 per 1000. 



The author stated that he had found inosinic acid only in the 

 flesh of fowl and turkey ; and he is informed, by Baron Liebig, that 

 it is quite possible that this acid may also have been confined to 

 the flesh of fowls in his experiments, as it was often absent, although 

 he cannot now ascertain the cases in which it was present. 



He concluded by stating, that as kreatine is found in the urine, 

 along with kreatinine, it appears to be, in part at least, a substance 

 intended for excretion. Its crystalline character renders this proba- 

 ble ; and, at all events, if it has any function to perform in the body, 

 that function is not yet known. It must be regarded, in the mean 

 time, as one of the numerous series of less complex products derived 

 from the decomposition, in the body, of the eflfete tissues ; and al- 

 though we cannot yet produce it artificially, yet, from the rapid pro- 

 gress recently made in the study of the products of decomposition of 

 the albuminous substances, we may hope "soon, not only to do this, 

 but also to discover, from these products, the true formula^ of the al- 

 buminous compounds. 



