'^'"sept!'i883!''"*}         Polyhydric  Alcohols  and  Borax.  447 
layer  of  mucus,  and  the  muscular  contraction  to  restore  the  stomach  to 
its  original  condition. 
Since  the  transformation  of  peptone  also  takes  place  in  the  stomach 
of  bled  animals,  it  follows  that  the  blood  has  no  share  in  the  result. 
The  cause  is  to  be  sought  for  in  chemical  changes  which  have  their 
seat  in  the  gastric  mucous  membrane.  An  explanation  is  thus  aflPorded 
of  Salvioli's  experiments  ("Archiv  f.  Physiol./'  von  Du  Bois-Rey- 
mond,  1880,  Supplement  Band  112),  in  which  it  was  observed  that 
peptone  introduced  into  the  intestine  disappeared  in  a  few  hours  with- 
out being  detected  in  the  efferent  venous  blood,  whilst  no  such  disap- 
pearance took  place  when  blood  injected  with  peptone  circulated 
through  the  intestinal  vessels.  It  also  proves  that  the  property  of 
assimilating  peptone  belongs  not  merely  to  the  stomach,  but  is  a  com- 
mon characteristic  of  the  intestinal  mucous  membrane. 
Whether  this  assimilation  is  accompanied  by  a  re-formation  of  albu- 
min or  by  a  complete  disintegration,  or  in  what  part  of  the  mucous 
layer  it  takes  place,  whether  in  the  epithelial  cells  of  the  glandular 
portion,  or  the  lymph  cells  of  the  adenoid  tissue,  has  not  yet  been 
determined.  But  to  this  the  author  hopes  shortly  to  proceed. — Jour. 
Chem.  Soc,  1883,  p.  675-678  :  Zeitschr.  Physiol.  Chem.,  vi,  51-73. 
THE  ACTION    OF    SOME    POLYHYDRIC  ALCOHOLS 
UPON  BORAX. 
INCLUDING   THE   CHEMISTRY   OF   GLYCERINUM   BORACIS  AND  MEL 
BORACIS.^ 
BY  WYNDHAM  R.  DUNSTAN,  ♦ 
Demonstrator  of  Chemistry/  in  the  Laboratories  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society/. 
The  experiments  described  in  this  paper  had  for  their  object  the 
elucidation  of  the  general  character  of  the  reaction  between  polyhydric 
alcohols  and  sodium  pyroborate  (borax).  In  the  instance  of  one  of 
these  alcohols,  namely,  glycerol  (glycerin),  the  reaction  has  been 
studied  by  my  friends.  Dr.  Alfred  Senier  and  Mr.  A.  J.  G.  Lowe, 
who  have  already  published  some  results  to  which  I  shall  subsequently 
allude.    They  have  since  been  independently  engaged  in  a  much  more 
^  The  part  of  this  investigation  which  concerns  the  chemistry  of  Mel 
Boracis  formed  the  subject  of  a  Report  upon  Organic  Chemistry  to  the 
School  of  Pharmacy  Students'  Association,  on  May  24,  1883. 
