ANALYSIS OF THE ROE OF FISHES. &7'3 



Abstract of chemical Experiments on the soft Roe of FisResi .li & he ;jubi 

 by Ptiessrs. Fourcroy and Vauquelin*. 



JL HE iTiemoir of Messrs. F. and V. is divided into five Method pur^ 



sections. In the first the authors srive an account of several ^^^'"'f ^^' ^'^^ 



^ . • . authors. 



experiments made with the roes of carp, in order to ascer- 

 tain their principal properties: in the 2d they examine the 

 plienoniena, that take place when they are burned in an open 

 fire; in the 3d, the products they yield in distillation, and 

 the nature of the coal left in the retort ; in the 4th, the man- 

 ner in wliich they comport themselveswith cold and boiling 

 water; and with alcohol : and the 5th contains a recapitula- 

 tion of the heads of the preceding experiments, with some 

 applications of them to physiology. 



Sect, I. Preliminary experiments. 



1. The roe is distinguished from the other organs of General cha- 

 fishes by its soft consistence ; by its texture, which is some- [^^ ' 

 what greasy and smooth to the touch ; and pariicuhrly by 



its fishy smell. 



2. It is neither acid nor alkaline. Neither acid 



3. when triturated vvith a concentrated hxivuim or pot- 

 ash it emits no smell of ammonia; and on the addition of a 

 fresh quantity of alkali it forms a thick magma. 



4. Thirty gram. [463 grs] of roe, dried in the air by a 

 gentle heat, being mixed with 6 gram, of potash, and after- 

 ward diluted with water, afforded when distilled merely some 

 traces of volatile alkali, which evidently arose from a small 

 quantity of muriate of ammonia, that naturally exists in 



~the I'oe. 



Thes.e two experiments prove, that the roe contains no Contains no 

 .•11 ^-^ c 1 i-i II !• ammonia. ■, - 



perceptible quantity ot volatile alkali. 



o. Roe di'ied slowly by a gentle heat in the open air loses Action of he?' 

 three fourths of its weight. It turns a little yellow, and °'^ ^''* 

 becomes friable, 



* Annales de Chimie, vol. LXIV. p. 5. 



Vol, XXV.— April, 1810, T 6. Heated 



