94 
THE CHEMISTR Y OF THE TISSUES AND ORGANS. 
saline solutions) contain, proteid, 41 - 9; lecithin, 31*73; fat and choles- 
terin, 2G'27 per cent. In young spermatozoa some interest attaches 
to the presence of a proteose which is regarded as the mother 
substance of protamine. Proteose and protamine both give the biuret 
reaction. 
Charcot's crystals. — These can be obtained from semen on evaporation. 1 
They are frequently found in sputum, in the blood, and in other situa- 
tions, in leucocythaemia. Schreiner 2 considered that they consist of the 
phosphate of a base he called spermine, C 2 H 5 N. Ladenburg and Abel 3 
Fig. 12. — Charcot's crystals. 
thought they were identical with ethylenimine, which can be prepared 
artificially from ethylenediamine-hydrochloride. This identity, however, 
is denied by Majert and A. Schmidt 4 and by Poehl. 5 Poehl gives the 
formula C 5 H 14 N 2 to the base. He states that it is a normal constituent of 
the testis, ovary, and blood, and that, used as a drug, it has a tonic effect. 
Ovary. — The connective tissue element is large, and yields chiefly 
gelatin and mucin. Proteids and nuclein are derived from the ova and 
o 
1 Bbttger, Virchow's Arehiv, Bd. xxxii. S. 525. 
2 Ann. d. Chan., Leipzig, Bd. cxciv. S. 68. 
3 Bcr. d. deutsch. chem. Gesel/sch., Berlin, Bd. xxi. S. 758. 
4 Com.pt. rend. Acad. d. sc, Paris, tome ex v. 
5 Berl. Mm. Wchnschr., 1893, No. 36. 
