THE EXCREMENTS OF MAN AND ANIMALS. 
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deposit. Milk of lime produced in this extract a white precipitate, which was 
collected upon a filter and treated with ether. After twenty-four hours this ether 
gave by spontaneous evaporation small round translucid masses adhering to the 
sides and bottom of the beaker, which, when examined under the microscope, were 
found to consist of round groups of crystals radiating from a centre, and so densely 
crowded that they could not be distinctly seen unless previously crushed. Small 
dark specks were mixed here and there with the crystals, but no globules of oil were 
perceptible, although the evaporation of the ether was nearly complete. When 
pressed between folds of filtering-paper, the substance left an oily stain ; if heated 
on a platina knife, it immediately fused, and burnt with a gentle flame, evolving 
a smell of burnt fat. No inorganic residue remained on the platina knife after 
incineration. The crystals polarized light readily and beautifully; when allowed 
to dry upon the slip of glass placed under the microscope, they completely lost 
their distinct structure. No further examination of this substance was attempted, 
but the characters above-mentioned are sufficient to show, that though in some 
respects not unlike excretine, it differs from that substance by its fatty nature, and 
may safely be considered as stearine, which it was natural to find in the sample of 
beef examined. 
2nd. The difficulty of obtaining the contents of the human small intestines in the 
healthy state is so great, that I have not yet been able to ascertain satisfactorily 
whether excretine be present or not in that part of the alimentary canal ; I could not 
however succeed in obtaining it from the contents of the small intestines of a man 
who had died from disease of the heart. In this case the alcoholic extract had a 
pale brown colour and an alkaline reaction ; milk of lime added to it gave a preci- 
pitate of a light yellow colour, which on being treated with ether, yielded after four 
days a white amorphous deposit, but no crystals of excretine could be detected. 
3rd. With a view of ascertaining whether excretine was to be found in other parts 
of the body, the parenchyma of the human spleen was next examined. The first 
spleen which came under my notice was that of a patieat of St. George’s Hospital 
who had died from fever ; it was apparently healthy ; about a quarter of the organ 
was washed, minced, and boiled with alcohol ; the extract yielded on cooling but a 
scanty deposit. Lime-water having been added, a precipitate was formed, which 
was collected upon a filter, and subsequently treated with ether, the solution yielding 
after two days by spontaneous evaporation a number of shining crystals, which, 
when examined under the microscope, presented the exact appearance of chole- 
sterine. Two other samples of the tissue of the spleen were examined; the first 
was obtained in a case where death had occurred from an obstruction of the pyloric 
orifice of the stomach ; the second was extracted from the body of an old woman 
who had died from ascites, accompanied by malignant disease of the ovaries and 
uterus ; this spleen was congested, very friable, and coarsely granulated. In both 
cases I obtained the same crystalline substance as in my first experiment. It was 
