ALBUMEN

A peculiar animal matter entering largely into the composition of animal bodies, such as the blood, muscles, bones, &'C.; also the chief component of white of egg, to which the term albumen was originally applied, and which well and familiarly illustrates its leading peculiarity, namely, that at a certain temperature it 28 ALCEDO. coagulates into a soft white solid, no longer soluble in water. It may be obtained pure by coagulating the white of egg by alcohol, washing it thoroughly with that fluid, and then carefully drying it at 120°. It then appears as a yellow, shining, transparent and brittle substance composed of — Nitrogen - 1 atom = 14 15-05 Carbon - 8 =48 51-61 Hydrogen - 7 =7 7-53 Oxygen - 3 =24 25-81 I 93 100-00 The albumen of birds' eggs coagulates at a temperature of 145° to 165°; and when dried, shrinks and becomes brittle and semitransparent, in all respects resembling horn. One hundred parts of the albumen of the hen's egg lose, upon careful drying, about 86 of water, and leave 34 of solid residue. Alcohol, most of the acids, and several metallic salts, also coagulate albumen, and some of the latter are very delicate tests of its presence in animal fluids: subacetate of lead, for instance, renders a solution of 1 part of fresh white of egg in 2000 of water turbid, so that it detects 1 part of dry albumen in 10,000 of water. Corrosive sublimate is also an excellent test of albumen, forming with it a white insoluble compound; hence white of egg has been proposed as an antidote in cases of poisoning by corrosive sublimate. Albumen. A solid fleshy, bony, or horny substance, secreted in some seeds between the embryo and the seed skin. It is supposed to be intended for the nutriment of the young embryo when it first springs into life. The part that furnishes the flour of corn, the flesh of the cocoa-nut, the great ma of the seeds of coffee, are albumen. Botanists have remarked that this substance is never deleterious, however poisonous the plant may be by which it is borne. [s. 41]