788 
ALCOHOL IN ANIMAL TISSUES. 
crease the veterinary staff, and actively resume the aggressive 
work that had been so long and injuriously delayed. But orders 
were received to reduce the force of inspectors still further, and 
at the same time the system of distributing fresh cows and other 
store cattle from the inspection yards only was seriously relaxed, 
and though there is as yet little time for more than the incuba¬ 
tion of the plague, cases have appeared in fresh cows taken 
into sound stables in New York and Brooklyn, and Staten 
Island, which has been sound for over a year, has again become 
extensively diseased. 
ALCOHOL IN ANIMAL TISSUES DURING LIFE AND 
AFTER DEATH.* 
In order to verify the truth of the statement that flesh 
superficially coagulated would rapidly putrefy under condi¬ 
tions in which well-cooked flesh would remain sound for many 
weeks, M. J. Bechamp coagulated some horse flesh by im¬ 
mersion for ten minutes in boiling water, then vrrapped it in 
a closely woven cloth, and placed aside for eight days. At 
the expiration of that time the meat was found in an advanced 
state of decomposition, and the muscular striation had disap¬ 
peared, although the air had not penetrated to the interior 
of the substance, whilst Bacteria and Vibrios abounded. By 
methods described in the original memoir, the author isolated 
and identified about 08 gram of alcohol and 10 grams of 
sodium salts formed by acetic, butyric, and other acids. The 
alcohol was converted into aldehyde, and oxidized to acetic 
acid, so that its identity was established beyond doubt; within 
certain limits the quantity obtained was larger the further 
the extent of the decomposition. 
It would seem, therefore, that the phenomena accompanying 
putrefaction are very closely allied to those belonging to 
fermentation properly so called, perhaps more directly with 
those of the butyric fermentation. By the same process 
alcohol was obtained from the fresh tissues. The brain of 
sheep gave a larger quantity than the liver, but the largest 
quantity was obtained from the brain of an ox, which fur¬ 
nished sufficient alcohol to measure with the hydrometer. It 
may be argued, therefore, that in medico-legal cases the 
detection or separation of alcohol from putrid or healthy 
tissues is not sufficient evidence to show that alcohol has 
been administered at all, still less that this liquid has been 
the cause of death.— Journ. Roy. Micros. Soc. 
# Comptes Rendus, Ixxxix (1879), p. 573; see Journ. Cliem. Soc., 
Abstr., xxxviii (1S80), p. 174. 
