of Edinburgh, Session 1879-80. 
571 
In summing up, this method is, I believe, reliable, but not 
sufficiently accurate to investigate minute changes. 
I have already gleaned several important facts from its applica- 
tion, which I hope will form the subject of another paper. As a 
footnote I may add that the alcohol in the dialyser is green, 
and on evaporation green flakes are deposited ; these are in many 
respects like bile pigment, but I have not worked sufficiently at the 
subject to give a dogmatic statement. It is stated that bile pig- 
ments do not exist in the blood. I shall not here enter upon the 
subject, as it would be premature ; the point is simply mentioned, as, 
if my experiments are repeated, surprise might be expressed that 1 
had not observed this fact. 
A remark may be made here upon the separation of albumeii by 
acidulated boiling water. I have reason to believe that this is a 
method which is thoroughly bad, although it is one which is 
constantly had recourse to in two or three branches of blood 
analysis. The coarseness of the coagulum varies with the tem- 
perature of the water. 
If blood be poured into water which is thoroughly boiling 
the albumen collects in masses the size of a small bean, or some- 
times in much larger pieces. If the water be not so hot, then the 
coagulation is finer. 
How, it is extremely difficult to wash out extractives from these 
albuminous masses, the difficulty increasing with their size. Hence 
your results may vary not with the amount of substance present in 
the blood, but with the coarseness of the coagulum, which is not 
desirable. I have tested this in the case of urea, and my friend 
Dr Bleile confirms the fact in the case also of sugar. 
2. On the Phenomena of Variation and Cell-Multiplication in 
a species of Enteromorpha. By Patrick Geddes. Com- 
municated by Professor A. Dickson. 
