Melligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 315 



was six and a quarter inches; of the smallest three and a half : the 

 crown of the tooth was two and a half; and the breadth of the 

 enamel from i to 4 of an inch, as was rendered visible by wearing 

 away of the surface. The roots were all broken and decayed. 1 he 

 animal could not have been old, as eight molar teeth were found; 

 old animals have only one molar on either side of each jaw 



The pelvis was twenty- two inches in its transverse diameter, 

 between the acetabula at the inferior opening. Theepiphyses of the 

 large bones and the patelloe were found nearly perfect, not havmg 

 suffered from decay.— SUliman's Journal, June 1827. 



SULPHOCYANURET OF POTASSIUM IN SALIVA. 



MM. Tiedmann and Gmelin evaporated the saliva of a young 

 man secreted while he was smoking, and obtamed 1-14 per cent ot 

 residuum, which was treated with hot alcohol. During cooling it 

 deposited a pale-brown substance, and the alcohol was evaporated 

 and left a residuum, which was treated with water. Large flocks ot 

 a brownish-white colour were separated, and the water contained 

 sulphocyanuret of potassium. It reddened tincture of litmus, owing 

 to the change suffered by the saliva during evaporation, effervesced 

 when cold on the addition of nitric acid, gave no precipitate with 

 chlorine, muriatic acid, alum, permuriate of mercury or potash ; but 

 it gave a precipitate with muriate of tin, acetate of lead, sulphate 

 of copper, protonitrate of mercury, nitrate of silver, and tmcture of 

 galls i and with permuriate of iron it gave no precipitate, but be- 

 came of a deep blood-red colour. This colour, which Treviranus 

 has already observed, can be derived only from sulphocyanic acid ; 

 for the saliva distilled with phosphuric acid gave a limpid product, 

 which had no acid smell, although it sensibly reddened itmus, and 

 gave with permuriate of iron a very deep red colour. 1 his product 

 gave abundant white precipitates with the nitrates of silver and 

 mercury; and after it was heated with chlorate of potash and muri- 

 atic acid, it gave sulphate and muriate of barytes. Lastly, with 

 the sulphates of iron and copper a white precipitate was obtained, 

 which when well washed, imparted to potash the property ot red- 

 dening the permuriate of iron. -It is proved readily by examining 

 the ashes of the saliva, that it is potash which exists in combina- 

 tion with the sulphocyanic acid. The soluble portion ot theseashes 

 consists of much carbonate of potash, of phosphate of potash and 

 chloride of potassium, and of a small quantity ot sulphate of potash ; 

 the insoluble portion was phosphate of lime, and a smad quantity 

 of carbonate of lime and of magnesia. Sulphocyanic acid was also 

 discovered in the saliva of another young man, secreted without 



smoking. , ,,,, „ ,, 



The saliva of a dog and sheep was also examined. 1 he tollowing 

 are the results obtained from human saliva, and that of these ani- 



"""lluman saliva contains only I to 2-.5 percent of" solid matter ; 

 that of the dog contiiins more. The various kinds o saliva consist 

 of, 1st, the principle of the sahva {spcichchtof); '2dly, osmazome; 



2S2 3"'y> 



