NO. 1451. BRA INS AND BRAIN PRESER VA TIYES—HRDLICKA. 301 



SODIUM ACETATE (FUSED), 130 GRAMS; SODIUM CHLORIDE, 110 

 GRAMS; FORMALIN, 20 C. C; 95 PER CENT, ALCOHOL, 460 C. C; 

 WATER, 540 C. C. 



(100 c. c. = sodium acetate, 13 ; sodium chloride, 11 ; alcohol, 46 ; water, 54 ; formalin, 2. ) 



End of first week: Weight of brains in the 3 c. c. to the gram solu- 

 tion had diminished in average by 14 per cent, or one-seventh of the 

 original. Variation : From 81. 51 (original weight 103. 5 grams) to 86. 89 

 per cent (original weight 103 grams) =2.35 per cent. The two heavi- 

 est brains (118.2 and 115.2 grams) lost in weight, respectively, 13.28 

 and 14.07 per cent, the two lightest ones (101 and 82 grams) 14.36 and 

 14.64 per cent. The specimen in the 6 c. c. to the gram solution (origi- 

 nal weight 110 grams) lost 15 per cent, that weighed every day (origi- 

 nal weight 100.8 grams) 14.69 per cent, becoming each relatively 

 lighter than any but one of the above. 



End of first month: The solution had been changed, both at the end 

 of the first week and at the end of the first month, onl}" with the speci- 

 men weighed daily, without, however, any material difference result- 

 ing. Of the nine brains in the 3 c. c. to the gram solution eight 

 had, since the end of the first week, slightly increased in weight, while 

 in one the weight was the same. The gain ranges from 0.51 to 1.15 

 per cent. Variation: From 85.51 to 87.38 per cent =1.87 per cent. 

 The changes were quite alike. The specimen in the 6 c. c. to the gram 

 solution gained 0.45 per cent in weight, that weighed daily 2 per cent, 

 or more than any other in the whole series. 



Changes in the brain weighed daily: A pronounced loss during the 

 first twenty-four hours, the next da}^ a smaller loss, then three da3's of 

 stability, and then a slight loss again. After first change a slight rise 

 during the first twenty-four hours and lasting to next day, then a 

 slight loss lasting four days and then slow rising. No marked effect 

 of the second change of solution. 



SUMMARY. 



A glance at the foregoing data and at those of Part I of this paper 

 shows that, with the same preservatives, the results were in substance 

 much alike, but that in the first series there was a much greater vari- 

 ation in results. 



The simple formalin solutions all show, with ail brains, the same 

 type of effects, consisting of a sharp initial rise in the weight of the 

 specimens, reaching a maximum within less than a week, with a sub- 

 sequent gradual, long-continued loss. The rise, very clearly shown 

 by the tests on sheep brains, is related in an inverse ratio to the 

 strength of the formalin in the solution. The proportion of loss is 

 much alike and is apparently independent of the formalin percentage, 

 which makes it probable tliat it consists of simple solution by the 

 water of the preservatives. 



