460 KESULTS OF ANALYSES OF HUMAN FAECES. [BOOK II. 



cholesterin it separates in warty or spherical masses and is less soluble 

 in glacial acetic acid than cholesterin. Excretin when treated with 

 bromine yields a body having the composition C w H. s4 Br 2 0. By the 

 name of ' excretolic acid/ Marcet described an oily body which he 

 separated from human fasces. These he extracted with hot alcohol 

 and precipitated with calcium hydrate. He decomposed the calcium 

 precipitate with sulphuric acid and then shook with ether, &c. The 

 purified residue had a melting point between 25 26 C., was insolu- 

 ble in water, soluble in ether, and easily soluble in hot alcohol. 

 Presumedly, excretolic acid, the product obtained by Marcet, was 

 an impure mixture of fatty acids. 



Mineral The faeces contain mineral salts, of which the 



matters found amoun t varies greatly according to the nature of the 

 food ingested ; these are composed mainly of phos- 

 phates of the alkaline earths, with a small quantity of phosphate of 

 iron, silica, &c. The amount of the mineral matters varies between 

 1 and 8 per cent. 



Results of quantitative analyses of Human Fceces. 



The water and volatile matters vary between 82*6 68'3 p.c. 

 The solid matters (organic and mineral). 17'4 31*7 p.c. 

 Total solid matters excreted in 24 hours 16 57 grms. 

 Average 30 grms. 



100 parts of dried fasces yield on an average 



Matters soluble in ether (mainly fats) . 11 '5 p.c. 



alcohol . . . 15 - 6 p.c. 



water . . . 20'0 p.c. 1 



According to Enderlin 2 , the following represents the composition 

 of the mineral matters of the fseces. 



Salts soluble in [Sodium chloride and sulphate 1*37) 

 water jSodium phosphate 2*63] 



Earthy phosphates 80'37\ 



Salts insoluble 

 in water 



Ferric phosphate 2'09 

 Calcium Sulphate 4'53 

 Silicic acid 7 '94 



94-93 



Porter 3 , in a research conducted in the Giessen laboratory, under 

 Liebig, found the mineral matters of human fseces to amount, on 

 the average, to 6'7 p.c. The mineral matters of the fasces passed 

 during 4 days weighed 11 '47 grms. The fasces of babies fed only 



1 Wehsarg quoted by Maly. Hermann's Handbuch, Vol. v. i. p. 246. 



2 Enderlin, Ann. d. Chem. u. Pharm., Vol. XLIX. (1844), p. 338. 



3 J. A. Porter, ' Untersuchung der Asche menschlicher Excremente,' Ann* d. Chem. 

 u. Pharm., Vol. LXXI. (1849), p. 109. 



