MORBID CONCRETIONS. 



nal concretions or bezoars, as they have been termed. * They 

 have divided them into the seven following species, which they 

 have named from the constituents of the respective concretions : 



1. Superphosphate of lime. 4. Biliary. 



2. Phosphate of magnesia. 5. Resinous, 



3. Ammonia-phosphate of 6. Fungous, 

 magnesia. 7. Hairy. 



1. Superphosphate of lime. The intestinal concretions belong- 

 ing to this species are composed of concentric layers, easily se- 

 parable from each other and very brittle. They redden vegeta- 

 ble blues, and are partially soluble in water. The layers are 

 unequally thick, and differ in their colour, f They were found 

 in the intestines of different mammalia. 



2. Phosphate of magnesia. These concretions are uncommon. 

 They are semitransparent, and have usually a yellowish colour. 

 Their specific gravity is 2-160. They are formed of layers less 

 numerous, and not so easily separated as those of the preceding 

 species. J 



3. Phosphate of ammonia and magnesia. This species is the 

 most common of the intestinal concretions. Its colour is gray 

 or brown, and it is composed of crystals diverging like rays from 

 a centre. It has some resemblance to calcareous spar. It con- 

 tains abundance of animal matter. This species occurs frequent- 

 ly in the intestines of herbivorous animals, as the horse, the ele- 

 phant, &c. 



4. Biliary. This is a species of concretion found frequently 

 in the intestines of oxen, and likewise in their gall-bladder, and 

 employed by painters as an orange-yellow pigment. Its colour 

 is reddish-brown. It is not composed of layers, but is merely a 

 coagulated mass, and appears to be but little different from the 

 matter of bile. When heated it melts. It dissolves readily in 

 alkalies. Alcohol dissolves it partially, and acquires a very bit- 

 ter taste. 



This species has been already noticed while treating of biliary 

 calculi, to which in reality it belongs. 



5. Resinous. To this species belong many of the oriental be- 

 zoars, formerly so celebrated, obtained from the intestines of 

 animals with which we are unacquainted. They are fusible and 



* Ann. de Mus. d'Hist. Nat. iv. 331. f Ibid, i. 102, and iv. 331. 

 | Ibid. iv. 332. Ibid. iv. 333. 



