TIlANSACriONS OK J<KCT10N I>. 



775 



parafively Inr^'f ftinoiuit of copper— is one of suflir-'Mt iiilercMt to vvarriint further 



invt'Sfipilii'"' 



In Juiii' lust I'roft's.sor .MoHi'leykiiulIy ])liu'(ul nt our disposal tho Idood of a lurjro 

 iiimibcr of tlif't' Hiiiinals wliidi Ih' hud nlitiiined alivo from Aiijerica; wo were 

 iliiis I'lmbltMl lo prociiri' Mifllciont iiiatrriid for niuilysi. . 



Over two litroH of blood were obtaiuod from twenty animals, by making a 

 small trans vcrst) incision at the joint bctwopn tlio copbalotliorax and abdominal 

 (iiriipact' ; no distinction was mad.i with regard to SfX. Tiio freslily drawn lilood 

 wiis an opa(|ni'-wluto liquid, whicli in a few seconds gelatinised, and soon 

 n-<uined a morn or less blue culonr; the jelly subscnufiitly contracted into a lirm 

 vtllo\vii*Ii-v/liite clot, and sf(uee/ed out a lafyo amount of a blue liquid. 



Tlie hhie liijuid had a specilic gravity of 1"U40, was slightly alkaline, coagulated 

 :, Ijoiling ii"d on aildition of alcohol, but was not coagulated with ether; treated 

 villi ."troiig acids or alkalies it cuagulated iti imissc, i\\v. blue colour com))letely 

 ilisappearing. After dilution, tiie addition (if wealc (1 percent.) mineral acid to 

 till' blue lifjuid blanched without coagulating it. In sumo cases the blue colour 

 ntiinied on addition of ammonia. \\'hen the blue lifjuid was kept in a stoppered 

 vcfSi'Ifor twenty-four hour> it blanched; tlir blue colour imnu'diately reapjiearing 

 ttk'ii it was shaken with air, to disajipear on standing. 



Ill connecliou with this fact, it was ol interest to observe the nnmner in which 

 till' LlrMid assumed its blue colour when freshly drawn. In order to observe this 

 under the best possible conditions, blood was drawn iron) an animal with precau- 

 timis which, as i'ar as possible, prevented access of air. A pi|iette cojitaining oil 

 was introduced into the incision and a small amount of blood 'Mrefully drawn into 

 it, both ends of the pipette were then sealed : under thfsu ciuiditions the bio xl did 

 vA become blue. 



From a free incision a sudden rush of blood was allowed to lill two small 

 Uakei's, one of which contained oil ; in both ca.ses a yellowish coagulum separated, 

 ll(iatiiig in a tolerably clear li(|uid. The one with a surface layer of oil lenniined 

 iiutiiinfed, whereas the other assumed the blue colour wliich appeared first on the 

 >urfaeo. 



Exj)criments were made with blood received nnder oil into closely sto])pered 

 t)iittli'S with similar results ; in these cases the blue colour has never appeared. 

 Xo satisfactory blanching of the blue liquid was observed when a stream of ('0._, 

 gas was passed through it. The colour, however, disappeared on addition of 

 animnnium sulphide, and returned for a short time again on shaking up the mixture 

 with air. The passage of oxygen markedly inlen^itied tlie blue colour; this was 

 the case also with the blue I)1o(h1 of the Octopus as shown by Fredericq.' 



The following table shows the percentage composition of the ash of the blue 

 liquid wliicii may be advantageously compared with tho.se of (ienth. It may be 

 observed with reference to these results that the determination of cojiper and iron 

 was made in lo'57 grammes of asb, as compared with the ;}'0 grammes employed 

 bvUenth:— 



Gvnth. 



Present Anahjsh. 



85-184 

 2-707 



0-504 



100-000 100-084 



Sodium chloride .... 

 Potassium chloride . . . 

 Magnesium chloride . . . 

 Potassium sulphate . . . 



('alcium sulphate 3-980 



Calcium carbonate .... "275 

 Phosphate of magnesia . . . '236 



Magnesia 0457 



Oxide of iron 0-029 



Oxide of copper 0-508 



99^976 



Bulletin dc V Academic Itnyalc dc Belffiqiie, 1878, p. 71' 



i^ li 



II 



