on Animal and Vegetable Substances. 37 
nine months after, on the 16th Fehruary, they were found in good 
preservation, and without any putrid or unpleasant odour. The only 
change perceptible, was, that the portion of heart and intestine had 
acquired a light greenish hue, and the tendon an opalescent hue ; 
and all were a little softened. A crust of carbonate of lime had 
formed on the water, which still retained some caustic lime. They 
were then transferred to a jar of common water, where, after four 
days, they continued unaltered. I may add, that a portion of cutis, 
similarly treated, placed in confined air in a bottle, after a whole 
month, emitted no unpleasant odour, and appeared to be unchanged. 
I have observed that cuticle, nail, and perhaps hair, are to be ex- 
cluded from the list of animal substances, not materially altered by 
the action of lime. On the cuticle its action is powerful, and, I ap- 
prehend, in consequence of a chemical combination between them 
being formed. It is well known how lime has the property of ren- 
dering the cuticle easily separable from the cutis vera, and how, in 
the art of tanning, it is applied to this purpose. The human cuticle, 
that, for instance, of the sole of the foot, I find becomes soft and ge- 
latinous from immersion in lime and water. After drying, a portion 
thus tried (well washed previous to drying), was white, semitrans- 
parent and brittle; incinerated, it yielded 17 per cent. of ash, which 
consisted principally of lime and carbonate of lime. 
The effect of lime on nail is similar to that which it exercises on 
cuticle, but not so strongly marked. A portion of nail of great toe, 
macerated in lime and water, from the 7th of June to the 18th 
August, was rendered soft and friable,—a little swollen, and disposed 
to separate or break up in layers. Dried, it exhibited the same cha- 
racter as cuticle, and when incinerated, burned in a similar manner, 
and left a considerable ash, consisting of a small proportion of phos- 
phate of lime, which pre-existed in the nail, and a large proportion 
of lime, with which, during the change from maceration, it may be 
inferred it combined. 
On hair, the effect of lime appears to be more destructive, but, in 
what manner it acts, I have not attempted to ascertain, A portion 
of human hair of the head, which had been kept in lime and water 
about three months, was partially decomposed. At the bottom of 
the vessel, there was a little black sediment. The hair, which was 
black, had acquired a just perceptible reddish shade, and had be- 
come much finer as if wasted, and more friable, so as to be easily 
broken. 
Relative to the results of the experiments generally, they appear 
to me to bear me out in the remark with which I prefaced them, 
viz., that lime does not exercise a destructive corroding power on ani- 
mal substances generally, nor one promoting their decomposition; but, 
on the contrary, a preservative, and decidedly antiseptic power, ar- 
resting putrefaction, even when commenced, and retarding decompo- 
sition. What new arrangements of the elements of animal matter 
