WATER POTASH SODA. 25 



may be referred principally to the cellular tissue between the 

 fibres, the fatty matter to the adipose tissue in the same posi- 

 tion, and part of the albumen to the blood and the fluid by 

 which the tissue is kept moist. But, beyond these general 

 statements, little can be said of the mode in which the chemi- 

 cal compounds are united to form an organized structure; or 

 of how, in any organic body, the several incidental substances 

 are combined with those which are essential. 



The inorganic matters which exist as such in the human 

 body are numerous. 



Water forms a large proportion, probably more than two- 

 thirds of the weight of the whole body. 



Phosphorus occurs in combination, as in the neutral phos- 

 phate of sodium in the blood and saliva, the acid phosphates 

 of the muscles and urine, the basic phosphates of calcium and 

 magnesium in the bones and teeth. 



Sulphur is present chiefly in the sulphocyanide of potassium 

 of the saliva, and in the sulphates of the urine and sweat. 



A very small quantity of silica exists, according to Berze- 

 lius, in the urine, and, according to others, in the blood. 

 Traces of it have also been found in bones, in hair, and in 

 some other parts of the body. 



Chlorine is abundant in combination with sodium, potas- 

 sium, and other bases in all parts, fluid as well as solid, of the 

 body. A minute quantity of fluorine in combination with 

 calcium has been found in the bones, teeth, and urine. 



Potassium and sodium are constituents of the blood and all 

 the fluids, in various quantities and proportions. They exist 

 in the form of chlorides, sulphates, and phosphates, and prob- 

 ably, also, in combination with albumen, or certain organic 

 acids. Liebig, in his work on the Chemistry of Food, has 

 shown that the juice expressed from muscular flesh always 

 contains a much larger proportion of potash-salts than of soda- 

 salts; while in the blood and other fluids, except the milk, the 

 latter salts always preponderate over the former ; so that, for 

 example, for every 100 parts of soda-salts in the blood of the 

 chicken, ox, and horse, there are only 40.8, 5.9, and 9.5 parts 

 of potash-salts ; but for every 100 parts of soda-salts in their 

 muscles, there are 381, 279, and 285 parts of potash-salts. 



The salts of calcium are by far the most abundant of the 

 earthy salts found in the human body. They exist in the 

 lymph, chyle, and blood, in combination with phosphoric acid, 

 the phosphate of calcium being probably held in solution by 

 the presence of phosphate of sodium. Perhaps no tissue is 

 wholly void of phosphate of calcium; but its especial seats are 

 the bones and teeth, in which, together with carbonate and 



