XVI. ABSTRACT OP PROCEEDINGS. 



Wales from 1895. Contributions will be received by the 

 Hon. Secretaries for transmission to Heidelberg, or they 

 may be sent direct to the Hon. Treasurer Herr A. Rodrian, 

 Stadtrat (in Pirma C. Desaga) Heidelberg, Germany. 



THE FOLLOWING PAPER WAS READ: 



"On the so-called Gold Coated Teeth in Sheep." By 

 A. Liversidge, ll.d., f.r.s., Professor of Chemistry, 

 University of Sydney. 



Paragraphs have appeared recently in some of the London 

 and Sydney newspapers, stating that gold coated teeth 

 have been found in Australian sheep. I have recently 

 received the lower half of a sheep's jaw bone from Dubbo, 

 the teeth of which are more or less completely incrusted 

 with a yellow metallic substance, but more like iron pyrites 

 (marcassite) or brass than gold. The deposit is about -h of 

 an inch, or less than 1 mm. in thickness. Under a half inch 

 objective it is seen to be made up of thin translucent layers 

 but there is no recognisable organic structure. The 

 metallic lustre is due to the way in which the light is 

 reflected from the surface of the superimposed films. The 

 scale partly dissolves in dilute acids. The residue consists 

 of filmy organic matter, still possessing a metallic sheen 

 although white in colour instead of yellow. The chemical 

 examination shows that the incrustation on the teeth is 

 merely a tartar-like deposit made up principally of calcium 

 phosphate and organic matter. 



Note. — Professor Liversidge also showed a calculus of 

 a similar metallic looking character from a sheep's stomach, 

 deposited in distinct layers round a piece of twig, but of 

 rather a darker bronze tint than the substance on the teeth 

 — this specimen belongs to the Sydney Technological 

 Museum, and was kindly lent for exhibition by the Curator, 

 Mr. R. T. Baker. 



