SMOOTH MUSCLES. 601 



in the flesh of different animals. According to the analysis of ALMEN l 

 the muscles of lean oxen contain 15 p. m. fat and 767 p. m. water; the 

 flesh of the pike contains only 1.5 p. m. fat and 839 p. m. water. 



For certain purposes, as, for example, in experiments on metabolism, it is 

 important to know the elementary composition of flesh. In regard to the quan- 

 tity of nitrogen we generally accept VOIT'S figure, namely, 3.4 per cent, as an 

 average for fresh lean meat. According to NOWAK and HUPPERT 2 this quantity 

 may vary about 0.6 per cent, and in more exact investigations it is therefore 

 necessary to specially determine the nitrogen. Complete elementary analyses 

 of flesh have been made with great care by ARGUTiNSKy. The average for ox- 

 flesh dried in vacuo and free from fat and with the glycogen deducted was as fol- 

 lows: C 49.6; H 6.9; N 15.3; 0+S 23.0; and ash 5.2 per cent. KOHLER 

 found as an average for water and fat-free beef C 49.86; H 6.78; N 15.68; 0+S 

 22.3 per cent, which are very similar results. This investigator also made similar 

 analyses of the flesh of various animals and determined the calorific value of the 

 ash- and fat-free dried meat substance. This value was, per gram of substance, 

 5509-5677 cal. The relation of the carbon to nitrogen, which ARGUTiNSKy calls 

 the "flesh quotient," is on an average 3.24 : 1. From KOHLER' s analyses the 

 average for beef is 3.15 : 1 and for horse-flesh 3.38: 1. MAX MULLER has shown 

 with experiments on dogs, that the flesh of the same individual shows some varia- 

 tion in this quotient after different foods. According to SALKOWSKI, of the total 

 nitrogen of beef 77.4 per cent was insoluble proteins, 10.08 per cent soluble pro- 

 teins, and 12.52 per cent other soluble bodies. FRENTZEL and SCHREUER 3 find 

 that about 7.74 per cent of the total nitrogen belongs to the nitrogenous 

 extractives. 



Smooth Muscles. 



The smooth muscles have a neutral or alkaline reaction (Du Bois- 

 REYMOND) when at rest. During activity they are acid, which is inferred 

 from the observations of BERNSTEIN, who found that the almost con- 

 tinually contracting sphincter muscle of the Anodonta is acid during 

 life. The smooth muscles may also, according to HEIDENHAIN and 

 KtiHNE, 4 pass into rigor mortis and thereby become acid. A spontaneous 

 but slowly coagulating plasma has also been observed in several cases. 



In regard to the proteins of the smooth muscles we have the earlier 

 accounts of HEIDENHAIN and HELL WIG ; 5 but they were first carefully 

 studied according to newer methods by MUNK and VELicm. 6 These 



1 Nova Act. Reg. Soc. Scient. Upsal., Vol. extr. ord., 1877; also Maly's Jahresber., 7. 



2 Voit, Zeitschr. f. Biologic, 1; Huppert, ibid., 7; Nowak, Wien. Sitzungsber., 64, 

 Abt. 2. 



'Argutinsky, Pfluger's Arch., 55; Kohler, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 31; Sal- 

 kowski, Centralbl. f. d. med. Wissensch., 1894; Frentzel and Schreuer, Arch. f. (Anat. 

 u.) Physiol., 1902; Miiller, Pfluger's Arch., 116. 



4 Du Bois-Reymond in Nasse, Hermann's Handb., 1, 339;. Bernstein, ibid., Heiden- 

 hain, ibid., 340, with Hellwig, ibid., 339; Kiihne, Lehrbuch, 331. 



5 Heidenhain in Nasse, Hermann's Handb., 1, 340, with Hellwig, ibid., 339; Kuhne, 

 Lehrbuch, 331. 



6 Munk and Velichi, Centralbl. f. Physiol., 12. 



