406 Identification of Bones, etc. 



horse. He noted that sausage extract alone, when placed at 40 C. for 

 5 minutes, often becomes clouded in a manner which might lead to 

 mistakes, so it is necessary to use controls. It has not occurred to this 

 author that the soda solution might be responsible for the clouding 

 noted. 



3. Antisera in the Examination of Bones. 



Beumer (1902) has applied the precipitin method to the medico- 

 legal examination of bones, in a case where bone fragments only 1 to 6 cm. 

 long were found in a house which had been destroyed by fire, and it was 

 suspected by the authorities that they might be human. Because of 

 their small size, the fragments could not be determined. The bones 

 were somewhat charred on the outside, remains of soft tissues adhering 

 thereto. After removal of the latter, the bone fragments were placed 

 in saline, where they were allowed to remain 4 days, the fluid foaming 

 then on being shaken. The fluid was now filtered through a Berkefeld 

 filter, and the clear solution thus obtained was tested with anti-human, 

 anti-pig and anti-ox sera, reacting only with anti-ox serum. The con- 

 clusion was therefore obvious. Fresh bones were readily determined by 

 the method, best when the marrow or spongy portions were extracted, 

 more slowly and less surely when cortical substance was used. The 

 addition of chloroform facilitated extraction. Cortical substance was 

 best extracted by sawing the bone through and extracting the bone- 

 dust thus obtained. Beumer found bones which had been exposed 

 for several weeks to the air, to be still determinable by the precipitin 

 method. Boiled bones gave a negative result, as did also roasted or 

 incinerated bones. 



Schiitze (22. I. '03) has made similar experiments, with regard to 

 the identification of bone fragments by means of antisera. He placed 

 the fragments in - 85/o saline to which '25/o soda solution had been 

 added, thus obtaining an extract which gave reactions with an homo- 

 logous antiserum. 



4. Antisera in the Examination of Commercial albuminous Prepara- 

 tions containing egg-white, and in the examination of Honey for 

 adulteration. 



Uhlenhuth (15. xi. 1900) found that the antiserum for the egg-white 

 of the fowl constantly gave negative results with commercial albuminous 

 preparations which did not contain egg-white, the contrary being the 



