BiLIEUBINE. 79 



bilirubine. Dried at 100 the acid will be expelled, and 

 pure dibromo -bilirubine, C 9 H 7 Br 2 N0 3 , will remain as a 

 black-blue powder. It dissolves in water with the aid 

 of any acid, and forms a splendid blue solution. It 

 also dissolves in alcohol and a little in ether, but these 

 solutions are discoloured after some time. It dissolves 

 in caustic alkali with a red colour, and acids produce a 

 red precipitate. These tests under 9 can be performed 

 with a quantity of less than a grain. 



Blood. 1. Take a quantity of blood directly from a 

 blood-vessel of an animal or of man, and stir it briskly 

 with a rod for ten minutes. Filter through a cloth 

 and wash the fibrine with water until colourless. 



2. If it is desired to determine the quantity of the 

 fibrine weigh the collected blood in a stoppered bottle 

 containing a chain of glass beads, shake for ten 

 minutes, add water, let stand and deposit, decant the 

 fluid, wash with water by decantation, ultimately with 

 water containing a little chloride of sodium, collect, 

 dry, and weigh the fibrine. 



3. Mix one volume of saturated chloride of sodium 

 solution with from nine to ten volumes of distilled 

 water. To this solution add one volume of blood, 

 beaten and filtered through calico, and stir. Let the 

 mixture stand at a very low temperature in ice and 

 water. When the corpuscles are deposited decant the 

 supernatant liquid, and stir the deposit again with the 

 same quantity of salt water as at first* Repeat this 

 washing operation a third and fourth time, when the 

 blood-corpuscles will be free from serum. 



