\.T2 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 



a vertical face of rock recently exposed at the Hadderwick Lime- 

 Quarries, north from Montrose. 



Dr Fleming next called the attention of the Society to the Black- 

 ford Hill example of a dressed and scratched surface, and intimated 

 that the scratches had a dip to the eastward, reaching, in some cases, 

 to 50°. He stated it as probable, that the phenomena, instead of 

 having resulted from diluvial action, had been produced by the 

 abrading operations of the Braid Burn. 



Monday, 1th February 1848. 

 Sir Thomas Makdougall J^risbane, Bart., President, 



in the Chair. 

 The following Communications were read : — 

 1. On the Preparation of Kreatine, and on the amount of it 

 in the flesh of different Animals. By Dr Gregory. 



After some remarks on the present state of animal chemistry, the 

 author commenced by giving a brief account of the recent discoveries 

 of Liebig in regard to the constituents of the " juice of flesh," or the 

 liquid contained in the substance of the muscles, which is distin- 

 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, inosinic acid in 

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

 in lai'ge quantity with a little soda, a considerable proportion of mag- 

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

 sodium, and, besides some compounds of animal origin not yet inves- 

 tigated, the new base Kreatinine, and the very remarkable substance 

 Kreatine, first discovered by Chevreul, but in vain sought for by Ber- 

 zelius 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 staled 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, 



