633 
of Edinburgh^ Session 1865 - 66 . 
most favourable to putrefaction, is well known to the housewife. 
From the few trials I have made, the process appears to arrest the 
putrefactive change, and to favour other changes with the produc- 
tion of mould or mildew. 
The following is an instance : — On the 11th of July 1864, a por- 
tion of well-boiled mutton was suspended in a receiver, and covered 
with a plate of glass not air-tight. It weighed 82’2 grs. On the 
20tli of the same month it was reduced in weight to 74’3 grs., and 
on the 7th of August to 65*6 grs. It now had a slight smell, not 
agreeable, not putrid. It seemed drier, and was covered with mould 
of various colours, mostly white. Cut into, its interior had the 
smell of decaying cheese. The muscular fasciculi were distinct ; 
and, with the aid of dilute acetic acid, their striated structure was 
seen. It was near, and only near, the surface, that the vegetable 
growth was visible. Four months later, it weighed 49 ‘4 grs. It 
was drier, and had become very much darker ; its colour was a very 
dark brown. Examined in the following December, i.e.^ after 
seventeen months, some mildew was found on its surface. It had 
an ammoniacal and disagreeable smell, like that of rotten cheese, 
and it cut like such cheese. When broken, not cut, it was found 
friable. The muscular fasciculi still retained their form, and, with 
dilute acetic acid, showed the striated marking, with an increase of 
translucency. From another experiment of the same kind on 
boiled mutton, begun on the 13th of August 1864, and continued 
to the 11th December of the present year, like results were ob- 
tained 
Blood, too, I find, after having been subjected to the boiling 
temperature, has its tendency to putrefy, arrested, like muscle, and 
that from keeping it undergoes somewhat similar changes. I may 
mention one instance: — On the 6th of September 1864, a portion 
of fowl’s blood, just after it had coagulated, was boiled for several 
hours. The vial holding it, on its cooling, was corked, but not so 
tightly as to prevent the admission of air. It was placed in a room 
where there was no fire in winter, and, with the exception of being 
under cover, the temperature to which it was exposed differed but 
little from that of the open air. Examined on the 14th of December 
1865, it was found moderately dry, for most part of a brick-red 
colour, partially whitish. It had an ammoniacal odour, no putrid 
