CASE OF SARCINA VENTRICULI. 367 



plmric acid, and sulphates instead of chlorides ; it was digested 

 on oxide of lead, until it lost all acid reaction, filtered from 

 the sulphate of lead and excess of oxide, and submitted again 

 to sulphuretted hydrogen, till a precipitate ceased to fall. 

 After being boiled and filtered anew, it was evaporated on 

 the water-bath, and digested with alcohol, which left the sul- 

 phates undissolved. The product of these operations, which 

 contained no inorganic acid, reddened litmus strongly. 



" Other processes were followed which need not be detailed ; 

 none of them yielded an acid quite free from animal matter, 

 nor was it ever procured in large quantity ; but it presented 

 the same properties in whatever way obtained. I did not 

 ascertain the solubility ^of the acid in ether, till the inquiry 

 was nearly concluded, so that some of the experiments here- 

 after mentioned were made with the alcoholic solution, which 

 was less pure. 



"The following properties were ascertained by repeated 

 trials to belong to this acid. It was soluble in ether, alcohol, 

 and water, was quite destitute of odour, and neither volatile 

 nor crystallisable. When the aqueous solution was digested 

 on phosphate of lime prepared from bones burned to white- 

 ness, and freed from carbonate of lime by boiling with acetic 

 acid, and subsequent protracted washing with water, it dissolved 

 a large portion of the salt ; and it acted in the same way on 

 the recently-precipitated phosphate. It formed a soluble salt 

 with oxide of silver, which strikingly distinguishes it from 

 hydrochloric acid. It formed soluble salts likewise with oxide 

 of lead, with potass, soda, ammonia, baryta, and lime ; the 

 last soluble also in alcohol It sustained a heat of 300 with- 

 out decomposition, but when the temperature was much 

 elevated it inflamed along with the animal matter accompany- 

 ing it, and suffered destruction. It was always found, however, 

 that the animal matter gave way before it, for after charring 

 had occurred to some extent, water still dissolved an acid 

 from the mass. 



