ON THE UNCOMBINED J^fgfUALl IN ANIMAL FLUIDS. ]4Q 



line residue obtained by beating the acetat to. redness, was 



deliquescent. You will see, however, by the following 



statements, that you were mistaken in your inference j an4 



you will, I make no doubt, admit, that the potasli, which i 



you found in the alcoholic solution, must have been in the 



state of muriat J and that the deliquescent quality of the 



alkaline residue must have arisen from your acetat having 



been but imperfectly decomposed, on account of the too low 



degree of ignition to which you had exposed it, and perhaps 



also (as you have since yourself observed) in consequence of j 



the presence of muriatic salts. But your experiments appear Large propor- 



to show, that the proportion which the muriat of pota»h in * j^^JJ^ '^"J^^'^j^ 



the blood bears to the muriat of soda, is greater than I had at in the blood, 



first imagined 3 and that we had both underrated the power 



of alcohol to dissolve muriat of potash. 



" As to the point at issue, however, namely, the nature of The uncom- 

 the uncombined alkali, in the incinerated salts of blood, the ,0^^, 

 experiments upon which I think myself warranted to repeat, 

 with increased confidence, my former opinion, that the 

 alkali is soda, and not potash, were conducted in the following 

 manner. ' 



" After evaporating some human serum to siccity, incine- Experiment* 

 rating the residue, dissolving in water the soluble saline sub- Proving this, 

 stances contained in the incinerated mass, filtering this solu- 

 tion, and evaporating it again, the alkaline mass of salts thus 

 obtained was treated with acetic acid, and afterwards digested 

 with 5 or 6 times its weight of alcohol of the specific gravity 

 of 0"S15. The highly deliquescent residue, deposited by the . 

 evaporation of the filtered alcoholic solution, was then made 

 red hot in a platina crucible, and kept for a few minutes in a 

 state of igneous fusion. A carbonaceous f,lkaline mass re- 

 raained in the crucible, which, after being exposed to the air 

 for 48 hours, in a room without fire, and in damp though 

 warm weather, did not exhibit the least vestige of deliquescence. 

 This mass, the quantity of which amounted to 4 or 5 grains, 

 being dissolved in a little water^ was divided into four portions j 

 c, i, c, d. 



" The portion a, being examined by re-agents, exhibited the 

 following properties, 



" 1. Ii contained abundance of muriatic acid. 



