1 10 Mr. G. Bird on certain new Combinations of Albumen^ 



of most other animal matters, is nevertheless very limited, 

 which limitation arises, in all probability, from its compara- 

 tively weak affinity for other bodies, which prevents our be- 

 coming acquainted with anything like very prominent or in- 

 teresting features ; I am however convinced that the study of 

 the chemical nature of albumen will I'eward the investigator 

 with a richer harvest of facts than that of any of the other 

 proximate constituents of the animal frame, as well from its 

 prevalence under some modification or other in every secre- 

 tion in the body, as from its being the chief constituent of the 

 circulating fluid, and constituting, if I may be allowed the ex- 

 pression, the type of the albuminous principles [pr'operly so 

 called) of the blood, and the pabulum from which the different 

 secretions are formed and the waste of the body repaired. 

 Indeed, by a synthetic method, founded to a certain extent 

 upon some of the novel properties of albumen I am about to 

 mention, I trust to be able in a future paper to prove that 

 many, if not all the secretions contain albumen, although its 

 presence has not been suspected, or if suspected not detected, 

 and that they are indebted to the presence of a peculiar com- 

 bination of this principle for many of their most prominent 

 characters. In the course of my investigations I had fre- 

 quently occasion to observe that albumen procured from dif- 

 ferent sources frequently differed slightly in its behaviour to 

 reagents, and an ignorance of this fact led at first to consider- 

 able discrepancy in the results of my experiments ; thus I may 

 observe that the white of egg and the albuminous secretions of 

 serous surfaces very closely resembled each other, but dif- 

 fered in degree of solubility and many other minor properties 

 from the albumen of serum of blood, which I have generally 

 made the subject of my experiments, after freeing it from fat 

 by agitation with sulphuric aether; and to this form of albu- 

 men I shall constantly refer in the course of the following ob- 

 servations. 



2. Some serum freed from fat ( 1 .) was mixed with a sufficient 

 quantity of a solution of pure soda to cause it strongly to af- 

 fect turmeric paper; the heat of a water-bath was applied, the 

 mixture being constantly stirred : in a short time it appeared 

 to solidify, forming a pale yellowish transparent jelly which 

 scarcely at all affected turmeric paper. Distilled water being 

 then added, and heat again applied, a nearly limpid, but some- 

 what mucilaginous solution of albuminate of soda resulted, 

 which became quite transparent by filtration ; it was not at all 

 affected by boiling or the addition of alcohol, but was precipi- 

 tated by the acids, solutions of chlorine, alum, acetate of lead, 

 bichlorides of iron and mercury, sulphate of copper, ferro- 



