THE EXCREMENTS OF MAN AND ANIMALS. 
281 
from the lime precipitate, concentrated on the water-bath, left a green residue 
having an oily consistence. Ether being added, dissolved this green substance, 
which was again deposited by spontaneous evaporation, without assuming a crystal- 
line form. No butyric acid was therefore present. 
Castings of the Elephant. — I obtained from the Zoological Gardens a sample of the 
castings of an Elephant fed with cabbage, hay, oats, and chaff; they occurred in large 
masses, their consistence resembling that of horses’ excrement. When washed with a 
little water and boiled in alcohol, they afforded an alcoholic extract, which on cool- 
ing yielded an olive-coloured deposit. The precipitate obtained by adding lime to 
the alcoholic solution decanted from the deposit, was of a yellow-brown colour. It 
was treated with ether, which, after having stood undisturbed for three days, yielded 
a bulky deposit, presenting no distinct structure when viewed under the microscope. 
The examination of these castings presented the following peculiarities, which I 
must not omit noticing. The ether with which the lime precipitate had been boiled 
having been decanted, deposited, on cooling, a white gelatinous substance, insoluble 
in cold ether and in alcohol, but which dissolved immediately on the addition of a 
few drops of hydrochloric acid to the alcohol, and the application of a gentle heat ; 
it again solidified on cooling, giving the whole fluid a semi-solid appearance. Ex- 
amined with the microscope, it appeared composed of amorphous transparent masses. 
Pressed between folds of bibulous paper, it assumed a pure pearly aspect, very similar 
to that of margaric acid. If heated, it fuses very readily, emitting scarcely any 
perceptible smell, burning with a slight blue flame, and leaving behind a black stain, 
which, by the further application of heat, completely disappeared, nothing remaining 
on the spatula. 
From the preceding experiments, it appears probable that the substance I have 
just described is a pure constituent of the Elephant’s castings. 
Castings of the Monkey. — I treated with boiling alcohol a sample of the castings 
of the Monkey, obtained from the Zoological Gardens, but could not detect the pre- 
sence of excretine as one of their constituents. The lime precipitate obtained from 
the Chimpanzee’s excrements, treated with ether, and the ether left to evaporate 
spontaneously, yielded crystals polarizing under the microscope, and very much 
resembling in structure those obtained by the same process from the Tiger. 
4. Castings of Granivorous Animals. 
The only castings of granivorous animals I had an opportunity of examining 
were those of fowls fed with oats. In this case also I could obtain no excretine. 
The castings boiled with alcohol left an insoluble mass entirely composed of oat- 
husks ; the yellow alcoholic solution, mixed with milk of lime, deposited a yellow 
precipitate, which yielded to ether a faint yellow solution. After spontaneous eva- 
poration for two days, the ether was observed to deposit an amorphous yellow sedi- 
ment, which, viewed under the microscope, was found to consist of a mass of 
MDCCCLIV. 2 O 
