SALTS OF AMMONIA. 451 



was originally found in the bile and in gall-stones by Bertozzi,* and 

 subsequently by Heller, t Gorup-Besanez,J Bramson, andOrfila.|| 

 I have been equally unsuccessful in demonstrating the presence of 

 copper either in the human liver, or in the liver of the frog; in 

 the latter case my experiment was made on 250 livers ; and I have 

 also failed in obtaining any indication of copper or lead in the 

 blood, although I followed Millon's instructions. 



There can be no doubt that the small quantities of copper 

 which have been actually found in the fluids of the higher animals 

 are only to be regarded as incidental constituents, while the expe- 

 riments of Harless seem to indicate that in the lower animals the 

 copper stands in an essential relation to the blood-corpuscles. 



All the investigations which have hitherto been made, seem to 

 indicate the liver as the organ in which deleterious substances, and 

 especially those of a metallic nature, as, for instance, arsenic, lead, 

 antimony, bismuth, &c., are accumulated, in order that they may 

 be gradually eliminated with the bile. Hence, even if copper were 

 constantly found in the blood or in the bile, it would afford no 

 reason why we should regard this metal as an integral constituent 

 of those fluids. 



As copper has not only been found in many mineral waters, (as, 

 for instance, by Will,^f Buchner,** Keller,tt and Fischer,! t) but 

 often in plants, and even in corn (Girardin,) there is no difficulty 

 in accounting for its presence in small quantities in the organisms of 

 the higher animals. 



SALTS OF AMMONIA. 



Although many high authorities believe that they have found 

 these salts in various parts of the animal body, yet if we put out of 

 the question their occurrence in the excreted fluids, we must re- 

 gard it as almost undoubted that no salt of ammonia is produced 

 in the animal organism or found in the living parts. 



* Ann. di Chirurg. Milan, 1845, p. 32. 

 '{ Arch. f. Ghem. u. Mikroskop. Bd. 3, S. 228. 

 J Unters. uber Galle. Erlangen, 1848, S. 95. 

 Zeitschr. f. rat. Med. Bd. 4, S. 193. 

 || Journ. de Chiin. m6d. 3 S^r. T. 3, p. 434. 

 1 Ann. d. Ch. u. Pharm. T. 55, p. 16. 

 ** Jahrb. f. pr. Pharm. Bd. 15, 8. 20-25. 

 ft Journ. f. pr. Ch. Bd. 40, S. 442-447. 

 $+ Arch, der Pharm. Bd. 52, S. 268. 

 Journ. de Chim. m^d. 3 S^r. T. 2, pp. 443-445. 



2 G 2 



