90 



CHEMISTRY. 



Sub- Group of Lecithins. 



Lecithin C 42 H 83 N P0 9 



Compounds as kepbalin. 



GBOITP OF NITKOGEN1ZED PRINCIPLES. 



Cerebrin C S4 H 68 N,jO 8 



Stearoconote C 34 H 68 N.)O 8 



Phrenpsin C 34 H 67 N O 8 



Kcrasin C 46 H 81 N 8 



Extractive and secretory acids. 



Uric acids and congeners. 



New acids. 



Extractive alkaloids (several new ones). 



Urea and amido-acids. 



GROUP OP OXYGENATED PRINCIPLES. 



Cholesterin t' 88 H 44 O 



Inosite C gH la O 8 



Lactic acid, etc. 

 Fats and fatty acids. 



GROUP OF INORGANIC PRINCIPLES. 



H 2 SO 4 ; HC1; P a O 6 ; CO.,; HLO; K; Na: NH 3 ; Ca; 

 Mg; Ou; Fe; Mn. 



The albuminous matters from the brain, he ob- 

 served, do not differ specifically from similar mat- 

 ter derived from other parts of the body, and are 

 mainly insoluble in water. The kephalins possess 

 a great affinity for oxygen, and also exhibit a won- 

 derful power of combination. The first member of 

 this group was discovered by Thudichum. 



Lecithin has been obtained mainly in combination 

 with platinic chloride as hydrochloride, but this salt 

 proves so unstable as to defy in great measure all 

 attempts which have been made to elucidate its na- 

 ture. But it has proved at least to possess characters 

 different in some respects from those attributed to 

 the lecithin described by Strecker and Gobley, al- 

 though it appears to yield similar products of de- 

 composition. 



Cerebrin. stearoconote, phrenosin, and kerasin, 

 are aU'well-characterized substances: the first two 

 are isomeric, stearoconote being formed from cere- 

 brin, when the latter is heated in alcohol, more 

 rapidly than it can be dissolved, when it fuses and 

 becomes insoluble. But the product is readily solu- 

 ble in benzine, while cerebrin is absolutely insoluble 

 in cold benzine ; from the benzine solution the stea- 

 roconote is precipitated by alcohol. 



Cerebrin. seems to be the di-amidated form of a 

 fatty acid, while phrenosin appears to constitute 

 the mono-amidated form. 



Kerasin has a microscopical character extremely 

 easy to recognize, and of such form as to readily 

 enable one to discover the presence of foreign mat- 

 ters. 



Inosite is a sort of sugar ; it is probably present 

 in human brain-matter, while in the brain of the ox 

 it exists in very decided amount. 



In certain cases of softening of the brain, Dr. 

 Thudichum has observed the presence of glycero- 

 phosphoric and fatty acids in the free state. As 

 these matters are never normally present, and as 

 they constitute the decomposition products of some 

 of the phosphorized principles, it is probable that 

 softening of the brain may be expressed chemically 

 as the decomposition of one or more of the phos- 

 phorized principles into proximate nuclei. 



All the principles of which brain-matter is com- 

 posed are, en masse (with the exception of the al- 

 buminous framework), soluble in warm alcohol, 

 although the individual principles are not all soluble 

 under these conditions. The question occurs here: 

 Can a man consume so much alcohol in the form of 

 stimulants, and retain enough in his blood in the 

 unoxidized condition, to dissolve traces of matter 

 from his brain ? Actual experiments made by Mr. 

 Kingsett appear to favor the hypothesis of a solvent 

 action exerted by alcohol on the brain of the living 

 individual. 



Influence of Chemical Works on Public 

 Health. With a view to determine statistic- 



ally the effects upon human life of the vapors 

 and gases emanating from chemical works, 

 a series of questions was sent to the mem- 

 bers of the Northwestern (England) Associ- 

 ation of Medical Officers of Health. Upon 

 the basis of the facts brought out in the re- 

 plies, Dr. Francis Vacher has written a report, 

 the substance of which is here given. Five 

 questions were submitted to the officers of 

 health, the first being whether the gases and 

 vapors from chemical works are productive 

 of any excessive mortality. To this question 

 twenty-six medical officers made reply. Of 

 these, six distinctly state that they do consider 

 noxious vapors a cause of the mortality in their 

 respective districts, and one of these six gave 

 an opinion that the irritant as well as the poi- 

 sonous gases increase the death-rate. Three 

 other medical officers refrain from answering 

 positively, either in the affirmative or in the 

 negative. Of these, the officer for the city of 

 Glasgow is of the opinion that noxious vapors 

 do affect the local death-rate, but asserts that 

 the subject " cannot be studied in its purity," 

 as " the larger factors of house over-crowding 

 and building, dirt, and poverty, obscure the 

 action of all other agencies." The other two 

 do not answer the question. But the remain- 

 ing seventeen medical officers answer the ques- 

 tion, positively or indirectly, in the negative. 

 Thus, the officer for Bristol finds "the popula- 

 tion exposed to these gases as healthy as that 

 of any part of the city." The medical officer 

 of Blaydon-on-Tyne, where there are consid- 

 erable chemical works, states that the average 

 health condition of the place is singularly good, 

 and has been for the last thirty years. The 

 medical officer for Liverpool is " acquainted 

 with no facts which would support a belief 

 that the excessive mortality of the district ia 

 due to the vapors of chemical works." 



In thirteen of the twenty-six returns no re- 

 ply is made to the second question, in which 

 information is sought as to the forms of dis- 

 ease, if any, produced or aggravated by noxious 

 vapors. The medical officers of the remaining 

 thirteen towns and districts are of opinion that 

 diseases are produced or aggravated by gases 

 and vapors from chemical works, and many of 

 them instance specific diseases, which they be- 

 lieve to be traceable to this cause. In one re- 

 turn it is stated that " every disease of the 

 respiratory organs seems to be aggravated, and 

 vomiting sometimes produced," by the noxious 

 vapors. Other returns note injurious effects 

 produced on patients suffering from bron- 

 chitis, asthma, pneumonia, and, in some in- 

 stances, these and allied complaints are said 

 to be primarily caused by the vapors from 

 chemical works. Lastly, the medical officers 

 for three districts charge gases and vapors 

 from chemical works with the production of 

 phthisis. There is also some evidence that 

 these gases and vapors, in some districts, cause 

 loss of appetite, sick headache, diarrhoaa, nau- 

 sea, and indigestion. 



