ELEMENTARY PARTS OF ANIMAL STRUCTURE. 19 



ELEMENTARY PARTS OF ANIMAL STRUCTURE. 



The animal body is composed o^ fluids and solids. The former 

 constitute the blood, chyle, lymph, and the secretions of the various 

 glands ; the latter, the various textures and viscera. The proportion 

 of fluids far exceeds that of solids, though it is a difficult matter to 

 form a positive estimate. Richerand says they are in the proportion 

 of six to one ; Chaussier of nine to one. The latter found that a dead 

 body which weighed one hundred and twenty pounds, after desicca- 

 tion in an oven weighed only twelve. Blumenbach possessed the 

 entire perfectly dry mummy of a Guanche, which with all the 

 muscles and viscera, weighed only seven pounds and a half. 



Water is one of the most important of the constituents of the human 

 body ; it enters largely into the composition of all the fluids, and 

 gives flexibility and softness to the various solid textures. It is also 

 a solvent of many organic matters, and either in solution, or suspen- 

 sion, serves to carry them to the various textures and organs. 



It has been already shown that there exists between the inorganic 

 elements and the organized animal or vegetable structure a class of 

 compounds c^Wedi proximate principles^ and that from these a great 

 variety of products could be obtained owing to the tendency which 

 their elements have to form new combinations, and that these latter 

 were called secondary organic compounds. The following table 

 exhibits these two classes of substances. 



PROXIMATE PRINCIPLES. SECONDARY ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. 



Albumen, i Urea. I i u 



Fibrine. V Compounds of proteine. Uric or lithic acid. \ ^^ ^"^ "'^'"^• 



Caseine. ) Cholesterine ; in the bile. 



Gelatine. Biliary matters. 



Chondrine. Pepsine ; in the g-astric juice. 



Elaine. Sugar of milk. 



Stearine. Lactic acid. 



Margarine. 



HsBmatosine, 



Globuline. • {Todd and Bowman.) 



Albumen. — Exists in two forms, y??^zV/ and concrete. In the latter 

 form, when pure, it is perfectly white ; hence its name (albus, white) ; 

 it is found solid in the brain, spinal cord and nerves, and in the mu- 

 cous membranes, which are thence called albuminous tissues. It is 

 fluid in the serum of the blood, the lymph and chyle, and in many 

 of the secretions. It is coagulable by heat, acids, and corrosive sub- 

 limate, but not spontaneously. 



Fibrine is found in solution in the chyle, lymph, and blood. It 

 is the basis of the muscles, in which it is found in a solid form. It 

 is one of the most abundant of the animal substances. It may be 



