/        *  DETECTION  OF  PRUSSIC  ACTD  IN  THE  BLOOD.  465 
is  0*5  grm. ;  they  yield  from  38  to  50  per  cent,  of  oil,  which 
consists  of  a  mixture  of  glycerin  compounds  and  three  different 
fatty  acids,  arachinic  acid  fusing  at  75° C.  ;  hypogoeic 
acid,  Cg^HggO^,  fusing  at  35°  C.  ;  and  palmitinic  acid,  C32H32O4, 
fusing  at  62°  C.  The  seeds  contain  28*85  per  cent,  of  pro- 
tein compound,  13-87  per  cent,  of  woody  fibre,  and  7-16  per 
cent,  of  gum  and  sugar. —  Chem.  News^  Juiie^  1869. 
DETKOTION  OF  PRUSSIC  ACID  IN  THE  BLOOD. 
In  an  article*  on  the  toxicological  investigation  which  took 
place  on  the  murder  of  the  Countess  Chorinsky,  M.  Buchner 
gives  some  interesting  remarks  on  the  detection  of  prussic  acid' 
in  the  blood.  In  this  case  the  blood  was  of  clear  cherry-red,,, 
and  preserved  this  tint  for  several  days.  At  the  end  of  fi.¥e 
days  it  was  still  perfectly  liquid,  and  some  weeks  elapsed  befare 
it  gelatinized.  It  resisted  putrefaction  for  a  long  time  when 
preserved  in  a  stoppered  bottle,  but  the  red  globules  wei?e  de- 
stroyed in  a  few  days.  It  presented  no  odor  of  prussic  acid, 
but  when  diluted  with  water  and  distilled,  the  first  portions  of 
the  distillate  possessed  a  distinct  smell  of  the  poison^  and  gave 
positive  results  with  the  usual  tests.  By  this  means  the  acid 
was  detected,  even  after  the  lapse  of  fifteen  days.  M.  Buchner 
found  Liebig's  test  (sulphide  of  ammonium)  to  b^  the  most  deli- 
cate. 
Several  years  ago,  Schonbein  showed  that  the  blood  globules 
decompose  oxygenated  water,  liberating  ordinary  oxygen  ;  but 
the  blood  diluted  with  twice  its  volume  of  pure  water,  and  con- 
taining a  small  quantity  of  prussic  acid,  loses  almost  entirely 
this  catalytic  action,  while  the  mixture  assumes  a  deep  brown 
color.  This  reaction  affords  the  means  of  recognizing  an  infini- 
tesimal quantity  of  prussic  acid.  Thus,  if  50  grammes  of  defi- 
brinated  ox-blood  be  mixed  with  450  grammes  water  and  5  milli- 
grammes of  anhydrous  prussic  acid,  the  mixture  becomes  deep 
brown  in  presence  of  oxygenated  water*  In  this  case  Buchner 
found  Schonbein's  test  to  be  a  very  delicate  one.    The  blood,. 
*  *  Revue  des  Cours  Scientifiques '  and  Jour  de  Pharm. 
31 
