74 ON THE ORIGIN AND ACTION OF HUMUS. 



But when amylin or starch is introduced into a de- 

 coction of malt, it changes, first into a gummy-like 

 matter, and lastly into sugar. Hard-boiled albumen 

 and muscular fibre can be dissolved in a decoction 

 of a calf's stomach, to which a few drops of muria- 

 tic acid have been added, precisely as in the stom- 

 ach itself.^ (Schwann, Schulz.) 



The power, therefore, to effect transformations, 

 does not belong to the vital principle: each trans- 

 formation is owing to a disturbance in the attraction 

 of the elements of a compound, and is consequently 

 a purely chemical process. There is no doubt that 

 this process takes place in another form from that 

 of the ordinary decomposition of salts, oxides, or 

 sulphurets. But is it the fault of chemistry that 

 physiology has hitherto taken no notice of this new 

 form of chemical action ? 



Physicians are accustomed to administer whole 

 ounces of borax to patients suffering under urinary 

 calculi, when it is known that the bases of all al- 

 kaline salts formed by organic acids are carried 

 through the urinary passages in the form of alkaline 

 carbonates, capable of dissolving calculi (Wohler). 

 Is this rational? The medical reports state, that 

 upon the Rhine, where so much cream of tartar is 

 consumed in wine, the only cases of calculous dis- 

 orders are those which are imported from other dis- 

 tricts. We know that the uric acid calculus is 

 transformed into the mulberry calculus (which con- 

 tains oxalic acid), when patients suffering under the 

 former exchange the town for the country, where 

 less animal and more vegetable food is used. Are 

 all these circumstances incapable of explanation? 



The volatile oil of the roots of valerian may be 

 obtained from the oil generated during the fermen- 

 tation of potatoes (Dumas), and the oil of the 

 S'pircBa ulmaria from the crystalline matter of the 



* This remarkable action has been completely confirmed in this 

 laboratory (Giessen), by Dr. Vogel, a highly distinguished young 

 physiologist. — L. 



