90 ALBUMINOUS MATTERS. 



albuminous consistency which belongs to fresh pancreatic juice. It has 

 the power of emulsifying fatty matters with great rapidity at the tem- 

 perature of the living body, and also of saponifying a certain portion of 

 them by the production of a fatty acid. It is believed by some observers 

 that the pancreatine of pancreatic juice is a mixture of several sub- 

 stances ; one of which, like ptyaline, is active in the conversion of starch, 

 while another aids in the liquefaction of albuminous matters, and a third 

 has the property of acting upon fats. 



Mucosine. 



There are a variety of secretions in the body which are designated 

 by the common name of " mucus," and which are distinguished by a 

 peculiar physical character of viscidity. This viscid consistency is 

 given to them by the presence of a substance termed " mucosine," or, as 

 it is called by some writers, " mucine." It exists in all the varieties of 

 mucus, some of which, like those of the bronchial tubes and intestine, 

 are nearly fluid, while others, like that of the cervix uteri during preg- 

 nancy, are gelatinous and semi-solid. It is also present in abundant 

 proportion in the synovia, the bile, and the saliva of the submaxillary 

 and sublingual glands. The secretion of the mucous follicles of the 

 mouth consists almost entirely of it. Mucosine is not coagulated by 

 heat, but is thrown down by alcohol and by the acids, both mineral and 

 organic. It is remarkably unaffected by the metallic salts, lead sub- 

 acetate being the only one that produces a distinct coagulation. In 

 some cases, as in the bile, it is dissolved in the fluid ingredients of the 

 secretion, from which it may be separated by the action of alcohol. In 

 others, as in the urine, it is only mechanically suspended, and subsides 

 as a light deposit after a few hours' repose. 



Myosine. 



The contractile substance of the striped muscular fibres contains an 

 albuminous matter which after death coagulates, like the fibrine of the 

 blood-plasma ; at the same time the muscles lose their contractility and 

 assume the condition of cadaveric rigidity. The coagulation of this 

 substance is retarded by the action of cold ; and it has been extracted 

 by Kiihne, from the muscular tissue of frogs, by the following process : 

 The vascular system is first deprived of blood by an injection of a ^ per 

 cent, solution of sodium chloride. The muscles, thoroughly washed, 

 are then subjected for two hours to a temperature of 7 to 10 below 

 (17OF.) ? reduced to a pulp in a cold mortar, and then allowed 

 gradually to thaw upon a filter. The filtered liquid coagulates spon- 

 taneously at ordinary temperatures. 



Coagulated myosine is gelatinous, and without fibrillated texture. 

 It is insoluble in water and in concentrated solutions of common salt ; 

 but is dissolved by a watery solution of salt, made in the proportion of 

 ten per cent, or less. It is extracted from the muscles after death by 

 bruising the muscular tissue to a pulp in a ten per cent, solution of 



