74 Constitution of G'elatine and its Transformations. 
three cells of the shell of a Rotalia lined with a similar substance, 
were exposed. Mutilated Rotalie, ect tia of four or five sacs, 
and sometimes of but one, are common both in treet Be flint ; 
and these invariably have a torn snr sollte appea 
If the explanation I have suggested of the facts nee be 
correct, and the fossils before us are the delicate soft parts of ani- 
malctles preserved in chalk and flint, in like manner as the bodies 
of mollusks oecur as a carbonaceous substance in the Wealden 
freshwater limestones—this discovery, though relating to some 
ogists; for in strata in which no vestiges of shells, corals, or 
other dense organisms have been detected, the relics of countless 
myriads of beings may lie concealed.* 
Chester Square, Pimlico, May, 1846. 
Arr. XI.—On the Chemical Constitution = secon and its 
Transformations ; by T. 8. H 
ITHSTANDING the elaborate researches of Mulder, Liebig 
and others, the true chemical nature of the gelatigenous and pro- 
teinaceous compounds is as yet unsettled. The difficulties which 
attend a careful study of them, are greater than pertain to any 
other class of substances; from their high equivalents and the 
complexity of their molecules, they are peculiarly subject to 
change, and are often altered in the processes by which they are 
separated and purified. In addition to this, they are not capable, 
so far as is known, of forming any definite crystalline compounds, 
so that the chemist has no means of determining the purity of 
the substances upon which he operates. A correct understand- 
ing of the chemistry of physiology cannot, ok be attained 
without a thorough knowledge of these bodies ; hence the atten- 
tion of chemists has been particularly directed to them, and as a 
result we have the researches of Mulder upon proteine which have 
thrown great light upon the process of digestion, and the mode 
in which a large class of substances are assimilat The nature 
of gelatine is as yet however involved in obscurity ; its sear 
"In confirmation of these views 1 may state, that Mr. Bailey, Professor of 
Chemistry in the United States Military Academy at West i whose bight at- 
observer are — known, had arrived at 
e examination of American sp he 
af odie of the 
Seth sre ee se lee 
oh ee ARM st 3 Se a 8 a 
