ANALYSIS  OF  A  CONCRETION. 
101 
100  grs.  yielded  6-10ths  gr.  incombustible  ash  by  incineration. 
20  grs.  of  residue  insoluble  )  J  gr.  of  incombustible  ash  by  in- 
in  boiling  water,  yielded  )  cineration. 
100  grs.  yielded  2|  grs.  of  matter  insoluble  in  alcohol  35°  B. 
The  residue  of  A,  insoluble  in  cold  water  when  examined  with 
a  lens,  exhibited  shreds  of  woody-fibre,  shining  gritty  particles, 
and  dried  pulpy  matter  in  fragments. 
The  residue  of  B,  insoluble  in  cold  water,  had  a  resinous  kino- 
like look,  and  consisted  of  20  parts  of  resin  and  13  of  apotheme. 
The  large  percentage  of  inorganic  matter  in  A,  does  not  belong 
to  fair  commercial  aloes,  and  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  such  an 
adulteration  in  view  of  the  less  ready  detection  of  cheap  aloes. 
The  uniform  manner  in  which  the  woody-fibre  is  distributed  through 
the  specimen  A,  leads  to  the  supposition  that  some  vegetable 
powder  was  introduced  with  a  view  to  prevent  the  conglomeration 
of  the  aloes  ;  and  the  large  residue  insoluble  in  alcohol  is  addi- 
tional evidence  of  the  impurity  of  the  specimen  A.  Whether  the 
original  aloes  was  very  inferior,  and  contained  both  woody  and 
earthy  matter,  or  whether  designedly  adulterated,  it  is,  of  course, 
impossible  to  determine  by  analysis. 
PROXIMATIVE  ANALYSIS  OF  A  CONCRETION  OF  HAIRS  FOUND 
IN  THE  ESOPHAGUS  OF  A  SLAUGHTERED  OX. 
By  Johx  T.  Plummer,  M.  D.,  Richmond,  Indiana. 
I  do  not  know  that  any  chemical  examination  has  heretofore 
been  made  of  the  hair  balls  so  often  found  in  the  stomachs  of  ru- 
minant animals.  According  to  Youatt,  those  that  are  found  in 
cattle  are  generally  devoid  of  any  distinct  central  body  ;  but  some- 
times a  bit  of  straw,  wood,  stone,  iron  or  shell  forms  a  nucleus. 
The  concretions  mostly  exist  in  the  first  and  second  stomachs  ;  but 
hard  masses  of  hairs  are  sometimes  obtained  from  the  half-fluid 
contents  of  the  fourth  stomach.  In  the  paunch,  the  balls  consist 
in  part  of  food  and  earthy  matter ;  but  in  the  second  stomach,  to 
all  appearances,  they  are  composed  exclusively  of  hair.  The  con- 
cretions vary  in  size,  and  are  found  at  a  very  early  age  of  the 
animal.  It  is  said  that  a  ball  "  as  large  as  two  fists  "  was  found 
in  the  rumen  (first  stomach)  of  a  calf  only  five  weeks  old.    By  the 
