LIVER. 3Z5 



They considered it as a resinous body, to which they gave the 

 name of liver resin. 



The alcoholic solution freed from the above described precipi- 

 tate, being reduced by evaporation to one- fourth of its bulk, be- 

 came muddy and brownish yellow, drops of oil swam upon its 

 surface together with larger masses, which strongly reddened 

 litmus-paper, and when the liquid cooled, partly crystallized in 

 bundles of white needles, partly remained liquid, retaining the 

 yellow colour. These substances were the stearic and oleic acids. 



The alcoholic solution from which these two fatty acids had 

 separated being evaporated to dryness, left a brown substance, 

 soluble in water, which was considered as extractive matter. 



The portion of the liver not acted on by water or alcohol was 

 considered by these chemists as the parenchyma of the liver, and 

 not subjected to farther examination. 



The general result of the analysis of the human liver by From- 

 herz and Gugert was as follows : 100 parts of liver contain, 

 Water, . 61-79 

 Solid matter, 38-21 



100-00 

 The solid matter consists of, 



Matter soluble in water or alcohol, . 71*28 

 Insoluble parenchyma, . 28-72 



100-00 



100 parts of dry liver were found to contain 2-634 of salts. 

 These were chloride of potassium, phosphate of lime, phosphate 

 of potash, with a little carbonate of lime and traces of peroxide 

 of iron. 



It is hardly necessary to observe, that such analyses of an or- 

 gan so complicated as the liver, containing at least five different 

 sets of vessels, all of them filled with bile, blood, or lymph, be- 

 sides .nerves and cellular tissue, cannot be expected to throw 

 much light on its nature. It is not even likely to make us ac- 

 quainted -with any new animal substances. 



