276 Rev. C. Trotter, On the molecular [May 11, 



By oxidising asparagin, we get* 



(CONH 2 

 C 2 H 3 (NH 2 ) \ + O = HON + CH0 o . NH. + 2C0 2 + H 2 



(COOH 

 aspargin ammonium 



formate. 



Taking this view then of the constitution of albumen, the 

 following may be given as a summary of the nutritive changes. 



The amido-acids glycocine, leucine, &c. in passing from the 

 alimentary canal to the liver are dehydrated, forming a series of 

 cyanhydrins or cyan -alcohols grouped around a benzene nucleus, 

 and then pass into the circulation. In the circulation there is 

 constant change going on, and the cyan-alcohols hydrated are 

 converted into the glycines or amido-acids, which as they pass 

 into the tissues are again transformed into the cyan-alcohols and 

 there partly hydrated and then oxidised give rise to the various 

 effete products which are eliminated from the system chiefly in the 

 form of carbonic acid and urea. ' 



(2) On the molecular theory of viscous solids. By Rev. C. 

 Tkottee, M.A. 



The following paper is an attempt to give somewhat greater 

 definiteness to our ideas of what may be called the molecular 

 architecture of a viscous body. 



I assume with most modern physicists that the structure of 

 all bodies is molecular, i.e. that all bodies are built up of separate 

 molecules, such molecules being either systems of vortex rings or 

 groups of atoms of some other kind. 



It is supposed that these molecules are in a state of constant 

 motion, the mean velocity being dependent upon the temperature, 

 and that the state of things may vary pretty continuously from 

 the ultra-gaseous condition of Crookes, in which the mean free 

 paths of the molecules are not only large compared with the 

 dimensions of the molecules but may extend to a considerable 

 number of millimetres, to the solid condition in which the mole- 

 cules are not only always subject to the influence of neighbouring 

 molecules but oscillate about positions of equilibrium. 



We are in entire ignorance of the nature of the actions be- 

 tween the molecules of a solid. The fact that a solid may be 

 converted into a liquid with a very slight change of volume, or 

 even, as in the case of ice, with a diminution of volume, proves 

 that the distinction between a liquid and a solid cannot depend 

 solely upon the mean distance of the molecules. The production 



* Fownes, Organic Chemistry, p. 417. 



