424 Chemical Analysis of some (June, 
oxalic acid, and other acids, caused a precipitate in it, and by re- 
peated evaporation mucus was separated. : 
(c) The undissolved portion did not swell in water, like epidermis 
and the nails. When heated, it softened, and at last melted. Nitric 
acid dissolves it completely, and forms much oxalic acid. The 
alkaline leys likewise dissolve it. When distilled, it gives the same 
products as the epidermis, without a trace of acid. 
(d) Alcohol dissolves about one per cent. of fat, and likewise 
some animal matter (osmazom). 
(e} When the horn is incinerated it leaves scarcely 4 per cent. of 
ash, which is white, and composed of the same constituents as the 
epidermis. 
A hundred parts of the horns of black cattle, then, are com- 
posed of : 
Indurated albumen, possessing much of the? g) 
characters of mucus ; 
Gelatinous mucus, with an animal matter s 
thrown down by nutgalls (osmazom ?) t 
Lactic acid 6 
Lactate of potash a 
Sulphate, muriate, and phosphate of potash + I 
Phosphate of lime : 
‘Trace of oxide of iron ‘ 
Ammoniacal salt 
Bat abouts Fa cctchy tole sa! otap avencionctlete avekavecons tap Miike name 
A peculiar volatile substance, which thickens more rapidly thas 
volatile oil,: and has the smell of horn. 
Observations. 
The presence of an essential oil in the animal kingdom, if we 
are to judge from the experiments hitherto made, is uncommon. 
The horny sheaths of animals arrange themselves under that genus 
ef bodies which, like plants, give an essential oil-on distillation. 
Ants, likewise, belong to the same genus. ‘This volatile matter of 
horns, however, is distinguished from proper oil by not collecting 
in drops when the liquid containing it 1s allowed to cool. It is 
uncommonly volatile, and is separated from the horn by simple 
digestion in water. 
In the horns of black cattle I first detected the uncombined acid, 
which at times is likewise combined with potash. In all probability 
no combination of this acid with lime occurs in horns. At least 
when an acid was poured upon the washed ash, I could perceive no 
effervescence. Even if such a compound exist, it must be much 
smaller in quantity than the phosphate of lime. These observations 
led me to conjecture that the same acid might probably be contained 
in bones. But experiment did not confirm this conjecture; for in 
bones quite fresh, and neither boiled nor exposed to a red heat, I 
observed merely carbonate and phosphate of lime. 
ee 
