H/EMATOSINE. 



503 



muscle, as we have seen it occur in a marked 

 degree in a rather severe attack of inflammation 

 of the joint, which readily yielded to treat- 

 ment.* Then in the more advanced stages of 

 disease of the joint, the depressions above 

 mentioned are not only lost, but from morbid 

 depositions in the neighbourhood of the hip 

 they become elevated and swollen, and the 

 sharp prominences of the trochanter lost in the 

 general fulness of the part. 



(A. T. S. Dodd.) 



GROIN, REGION OF THE, (Surgical 

 Anatomy.) (Fr. Vaine, region inguinatc.) The 

 limits of this region, as understood by most 

 surgical writers, seem to be wholly artificial. 

 The groin constitutes the confines of the ab- 

 domen and the thigh ; and Poupart's ligament 

 forms a natural line of division between its 

 femoral and its abdominal portions. A line 

 drawn horizontally, the subject being erect, 

 from the anterior superior spinous process of 

 the ilium to the linea alba, forms the superior 

 limit of this region, while below it may be 

 defined by a line parallel to the former one, 

 and extending from the pubis to the outer part 

 of the thigh. For the particulars of this region, 

 see HERNIA, FEMORAL ARTERY, ABDOMEN, 

 and THIGH, REGIONS OF THE. 



(R. B. Todd.) 



H^MATOSINE, ( a ^ a , blood, and 

 to Jail.) The colouring matter of the biood.f 

 This principle separates with the fibrine of the 

 blood when that fluid coagulates, and may be 

 obtained free from adherent albuminous matter 

 by the process recommended by Berzelius, 

 which is as follows. The coagulum is first to 

 be sliced in thin pieces with a sharp knife, and 

 then carefully washed in separate portions of 

 distilled water; by these means we separate 

 the adherent serum, and if the washing is 

 gently performed, but little haematosine be- 

 comes washed away with it. The slices thus 

 prepared are placed on a filter and allowed to 

 drain : when the draining is complete, the slices 

 are to be thrown into a glass vessel and broken 

 up in distilled water; we thus procure a solution 

 of the colouring matter while any fibrine pre- 

 sent gradually subsides. The liquor when 

 poured off is a tolerably pure solution of 

 haematosine. If it is wished to procure the 

 principle in the solid form, the solution may 

 be evaporated at a temperature not exceeding 

 100 Fahrenheit. 



Engelhart prefers heating the solution after 

 filtration to about 150 Fahrenheit, which deter- 

 mines the precipitation of the haematosine, 

 while any albumen which may possibly exist 



* There seems to be a law of the animal economy 

 that when a joint is diseased the muscles moving it 

 immediately lose tone and bulk, and there is no 

 more marked symptom of disease of an articulation 

 than this wasting of the muscles which belong to it. 



t Lecanu considers that haematosine is a com- 

 pound of albumen with a substance which he be- 

 lieves to be the true colouring matter of the blood, 

 and which he calls Globuline. 



in solution with it, remains dissolved at that 

 temperature. Engelhart's process yields us 

 haematosine in its purest form, but when thus 

 obtained it is no longer soluble in water, 

 whereas, if procured by evaporation at 100 

 Fahrenheit, it is still soluble, and what is very 

 extraordinary, dry haematosine procured at that 

 temperature, though it be afterwards subjected 

 to a heat of 2 12 Fahrenheit, does not lose its 

 property of dissolving in water. Haematosine 

 may be described under two forms, viz. in 

 solution and in the dry state. 



The aqueous solution of haematosine is pre- 

 cipitated by alcohol and the acids. The 

 alkaline hydro-sulphurets and sulphuretted hy- 

 drogen change the colour of the solution to 

 green ; nearly all the metallic and earthy salts 

 precipitate it. Infusion of galls produces a 

 pale red precipitate ; gallic acid, however, does 

 not show this effect. Chlorine passed through 

 a solution of haematosine decolorizes it. 

 Bromine produces a similar result, but it is 

 some time before the effect is observed. Iodine 

 will also decolorize the solution after some 

 hours, and produces a brown precipitatCj which 

 is found to contain iodine. 



Haematosine when dry is of a dark red co- 

 lour and exceedingly hard, having a vitreous 

 fracture. Its chemical properties in many re- 

 spects resemble those of fibrine, and albumen 

 in the coagulated state. Berzelius remarks 

 that, like fibrine, it contains a fatty matter pe- 

 culiar to itself which can be separated by ether; 

 this is one point of resemblance in the opinion 

 of that chemist. The action of acetic acid on 

 haematosine is a very striking point of resem- 

 blance between that body and fibrine; for 

 when the acid in the concentrated state is al- 

 lowed to remain in contact with haematosine 

 for a few hours, we observe that it is converted 

 into a tremulous brown mass which is more or 

 less soluble in water, and which during solu- 

 tion evolves nitrogen gas. The nitric, hydro- 

 chloric, and sulphuric acids, if diluted with an 

 equal bulk of water, and digested on haema- 

 tosine, become coloured yellow and disengage 

 nitrogen; but they do not dissolve the prin- 

 ciple even at a boiling heat. The results of 

 such digestions, however, in the hydrochloric 

 and sulphuric acids, are soluble in water; but 

 that which has been digested in nitric acid 

 remains insoluble. 



Potash, soda, and ammonia dissolve haema- 

 tosine with facility, and it is precipitated from 

 such solution by the addition of an acid. The 

 acetic acid acts thus, but re-dissolves the pre- 

 cipitate if added in excess, as it would albu- 

 men or fibrine. 



Tannin precipitates haematosine from solu- 

 tion in alkalies. 



Tiedemann and Gmelin have observed that 

 boiling alcohol will dissolve haematosine ; this 

 is also the case to a considerable extent with 

 its combinations with several of the acids which 

 precipitate it. When haematosine is incinerated 

 and decarbonized, it yields an ash amounting 

 to 1.3 per cent, of its weight : this, according 

 to Berzelius, is composed of the following sub- 

 stances : 



