1819.] on Oxygenated Water. 275 



much oxygen as pure water ; or, which is the same thing, that 

 pure water is capable of absorbing 616 its volume of this gas, at 

 the temperature of zero, and under a pressure of 0"7G metre. I 

 mentioned at the same time the physical properties of this new 

 liquid, and the remarkable phenomena produced by its contact 

 with several mineral substances. Since that time 1 have studied 

 its action on almost all the other mineral substances, and on 

 most vegetable and animal bodies. I shall not state here all the 

 results which I have obtained. I shall mention only a single 

 one, which appeal's to me worthy of attention ; namely, that 

 several animal bodies are capable, like platinum, gold, silver, &c. 

 of disengaging the oxygen from oxygenated water, without 

 experiencing any alteration, at least when the liquid is diluted 

 with distilled water. 



I took pure oxygenated water, and diluted it so that it con- 

 tained only eight times its volume of oxygen. I passed 22 

 measures of it into a tube filled with mercury. I then introduced 

 a little fibrin, quite white, and recently extracted from blood. 

 The oxygen began instantly to be disengaged from the water ; 

 the mercury in the tube sunk ; at the end of six minutes the 

 water was completely disoxygenated ; for it no longer effervesced 

 with oxide of silver. Having then measured the gas disengaged, 

 I found it 176 measures ; that is to say, as much as the liquid 

 contained. This gas contained neither carbonic acid nor azote. 

 It was pure oxygen. The same fibrin placed in contact with 

 new portions of oxygenated water acted in the same manner. 



Urea, liquid or solid albumen, and gelatin, do not disengage 

 oxygen from water even very much oxygenated. But the tissue 

 of the lungs cut into thin slices, and well-washed, that of the 

 kidneys and of the spleen, drive the oxygen out of the water with 

 as much facility at least as fibrin does. The skins and the veins 

 possess the same property, but in a weaker degree. 



But since the tissue of the lungs, of the spleen, of the kidney, 

 &c. possess, like platinum, gold, silver, Sec. the property of 

 driving the oxygen out of oxygenated water, it is veiy probable 

 that all these effects are owing to the same force. Would it be 

 unreasonable to think that all animal and vegetable secretions 

 are owing to the same force ? I do not think that it would. We 

 may in this way conceive how an organ without absorbing any 

 thing, without giving out any thing, may be able to act con- 

 stantly on a liquid, and to transform it into new products. This 

 manner of viewing the subject agrees with some notions lately 

 thrown out, and which become in some measure palpable by the 

 experiments which constitute the subject of this note. 



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