4 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOTEIDS. 



[BOOK i. 



intended to be as much as possible one based upon physiological 

 considerations ; and the reader will not find it inconsistent that 

 whilst a systematic account of these bodies is given in the first 

 place, apart from any special tissue or organ, in the case of other 

 proximate principles their description and consideration is incorpo- 

 rated in the account of the organ or tissue with which they appear 

 to have the closest connection. 



SEC. 1. GENERAL CHARACTERS OF THE PROTEIDS. 



The bodies included under this category are highly complex, (for 

 the most part) non-crystallizable, compounds of carbon, hydrogen, 

 oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur, occurring in a solid viscous condition, 

 or in solution, in nearly all the solids and liquids of the organism. 

 The different members of the group present differences in physical 

 and, to a certain extent, even in chemical properties ; they all possess, 

 however, certain common chemical reactions, and are united by a 

 close genetic relationship. 



The following table exhibits the proportions of proteids, or their 

 immediate derivatives, contained in the various liquids and solids of the 

 body (Gorup-Besanez 1 ). 



A. LIQUIDS. 



Cerebro-spinal liquid contains 



Aqueous humour 



Liquor Amnii 



Intestinal juice 



Liquor Pericardii 



Lymph 



Pancreatic juice 



Synovia 



Milk . 



Chyle . 



Blood . 



0-09 per cent, of Proteids. 

 0-H 

 0-70 

 0-95 

 2-36 

 2-46 

 3-33 

 3-91 

 3-94 

 4-09 

 19-56 



B. SOLID TISSUES AND ORGANS. 



Spinal Cord contains 



Brain. .... 



Liver .... 



Thymus (of Calf) . 



Muscles .... 



Tunica media of Arteries 



Crystalline lens . 



The proteids of the animal body are all derived, directly or indi- 

 rectly, from vegetable organisms, which possess the power of con- 

 structing them out of the comparatively simple chemical compounds 

 which serve as their food. Such a synthesis never takes place in the 



1 Vide Gorup-Besanez, Lehrbuch der physiologischen Cliemie, 4te Auflage (1878), p. 128. 



7-49 per cent, of Proteids. 



8-63 



H-74 

 12-29 

 16-18 

 27-33 

 38-30 



