4 ORIGIN OF GELATINE. 123 



latter, calculated on 6 equivalents of nitrogen, might be 

 represented by the formula, C 38 N 6 H 32 O 14 . This formula 

 approaches most closely to the analysis of Scherer, al- 

 though it is not an exact expression of his results. A 

 formula corresponding more perfectly to the analyses, is 

 C 32 N S H 27 O 12 ; or, calculated according to Mulder's 

 analysis, C M N,H 42 O 20 . * 



According to the first formula, carbon and hydrogen 

 have been separated ; according to the two last, a cer- 

 tain proportion of all the elements has been removed. 



18. We must admit, as the most important result of 

 the study of the composition of gelatinous tissue, and as 

 a point undeniably established, that, although formed 

 from compounds of proteine, it no longer belongs to the 

 series of the compounds of proteine. Its chemical 

 characters and composition justify this conclusion. 



No fact is as yet opposed to the law, deduced from 

 observation, that nature has exclusively destined com- 

 pounds of proteine for the production of blood. 



No substance analogous to the tissues yielding gelatine 

 is found in vegetables. The gelatinous substance is not 

 a compound of proteine ; it contains no sulphur, no 

 phosphorus, and it contains more nitrogen or less car- 

 bon than proteine. The compounds of proteine, under 

 the influence of the vital energy of the organs which 

 form the blood, assume a new form, but are not altered 

 in composition ; while these organs, as far as our expe- 



* The formula C 52 N 8 H 40 O 20 , adopted by Mulder, gives, when re- 

 duced to 100 parts, too little nitrogen to be considered an exact ex- 

 pression of his analyses. 



