I 511 ] 
XIII. Researches on Turacin, an Animal Pigment containing Copper, —II. 
By A. H. Church, M.A ., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in the Royal Academy of 
Arts, London. 
Received April 2,—Read April 28, 1892. 
Contents. 
PAGE. 
1. Touracos, Turacin, and Copper in Animals.511 
2. Occurrence of Turacin.514 
3. Isolation of Turacin.516 
4. Characters of Turacin.516 
5. Nitrogen in Turacin .521 
6. Copper in Turacin. 524 
7. Carbon and Hydrogen in Turacin.527 
8. Summary of Analytical Results.527 
9. Summary and Conclusions.528 
§ 1. Touracos , Turacin, and Copper in Animals. 
Since the publication of my paper on Turacin,' 1 ' read before the Society in May, 18G9, 
several interesting facts have come to light in reference to the Touracos, and to the 
occurrence of copper in the animal kingdom. Before giving the results of my own 
- farther researenes, I would first of all mention the book on “ Angola and the River 
Congo ” by the late J. J. Monteiro.! In the second volume of this work, pp. 75 to 
79, will be found some curious particulars about two species of Turacus ( Corythaix ), 
as well as an account of Mr. H. Bassett’s experiments with turacin, to which further 
reference will presently be made. Mr. Monteiro describes a singular trait manifested 
by one of his tame plantain-eaters, a Turacus schcdowi, which showed marked 
delight in gaily coloured dresses and pictures. Several instances are given of Touracos 
in captivity having moulted and then renewed their crimson plumage with all its 
original richness of colour. Some feathers from these birds, which Mr. Monteiro 
handed to me for examination, were found, by optical tests, to contain a turacin 
identical with that which colours them in their native countries. Yet these feathers had 
been produced in captivity, and after the birds had been for several years in England, 
where they were fed upon imported bananas and other vegetable foods. Certainly 
they had not had the opportunity of picking up “ the grains of malachite and of 
other copper minerals to which, it has been suggested, they may have had access in 
* ‘Phil. Trans.,’ vol. 152, PartII., pp. 627-636 (1870). 
f London : Macmillan and Co., 1875. 
28.10.92. 
