VIII 



THE EFFECT OF SUBLIMATE ON ALBUMIN 



311 



egg-white floated on the solutions from A to G and had to be mixed 

 with the fixing solution by shaking. At H the specific gravity was 

 approximately the same ; the egg-white sent downwards finger -like 

 processes resembling the tentacles of a medusa. / at first sight might 

 be taken to be almost clear, and L compared with A showed the 

 merest trace of opalescence. In M, within 2J minutes after adding 

 the albumin and shaking vigorously, a thick curdy precipitate settled 

 down. In N the salt-solution did not quite prevent a slight opales- 

 cence, indicating that some albumin was still combined with sub- 

 limate. showed a very faint opalescence due to incipient globulin 

 precipitation. 



After twenty-four hours : In A the solution was absolutely clear. 

 In B a heavy white curdy precipitate occupied the lower one-third, 

 while the upper two -thirds showed a just perceptible opalescence. 

 C to Gr showed a slight precipitate, most marked in C and gradually 

 diminishing till just visible in G ; the supernatant fluid showed a 

 marked bluish opalescence, most marked in C and gradually diminish- 

 ing till G. In H to L no precipitate was visible, and the solutions 

 gradually become less opalescent, till in L the opalescence was just 

 visible. 



After forty-eight hours traces of a fine floccular precipitate were 

 seen in all the tubes from H to Z, being least marked in L. 



M contained a dense precipitate in the lower one-fifth of the tube, 

 the upper four-fifths being perfectly clear. With transmitted sun- 

 light the flocculi in the precipitate were seen to be much coarser than 

 in B. In N the opalescence was still visible, while was perfectly 

 clear, with the merest trace of a sediment. 



