ALBUMEN. A substance occurring in the blood and nerves of animals, in the eggs of birds, and in grains and vegetables, in almost exactly identical composition. These we give, and also that of fibrin and casein, as follows. Albumen dif fers from fat in its composition, having the four elements--carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen —while fat contains but three. All the organs of the bodies of animals contain these four elements, and food must necessarily contain them to he nutritious. We find the carbonaceous foods to be fat-producing or heat-giving. The nutritious foods containing the four elements are called nitrogenous or flesh-forming foods. They are all included in the three forms, albumen, fibrin and casein, which contain the four elements in nearly the same proportions. When we consider that albumen, or at least the group of which it is a member, is one of the constituents of food with out which young animals can not thrive, that it is a chief constituent of the eggs of birds, and of the milk of animals, we shall see the importance and necessity of food containing largely of the so called protein compounds, especially for young and growing animals. Boussingault gives the results of analysis performed by Messrs. Dumas and Cahours to prove this fact, as follows: Fibrin is the principal element of which the mus cles of animals are formed; it also forms the clot and globules in blood. Like albumen, fibrin is found in vegetables in nearly identical composi tion with that of animals. Analysis shows: Casein is found in the milk of mammals, and is identical with that called legumen, of the legu minous seeds, such as beans, peas, etc., in which
it exists more abundantly than in milk itself. Analysis shows the composition of the animal and vegetable casein to be also nearly identical: Again, we see that the composition of albumen, fibrin and casein, is nearly similar, and that they contain a large percentage of that important and scarce element in agriculture, as well as neces sary constituents in all plants and animals. Al bumen abounds in bone, muscle, the mem brane of shells, sponges and cartilage, the nails, claws, horns and hoofs. The horns of ani mals are almost entirely composed of it. Albu men is found in the fluid state in the serum of blood and the whites of eggs. In the moist state it easily putrefies in the presence of heat and air and coagulates at about 180° Fahrenheit. Dry, it is a transparent, brittle substance, resist ing decay. Many plants contain notable quanti ties of albumen, and the juice of all plants con tain more or less, being found in all their parts as necessary to growth. The accumulation ends in the seeds, the cereal and leguminous grains being especially rich in albumen. Besides car bon, oxygen and hydrogen, albumen contains from fifteen to eighteen per cent. of nitrogen, a small quantity of sulphur, and sometimes phos phorus. The albuminoids are both soluble and insoluble in water. The insoluble albuminoids sometimes occur in both plants and animals. When purified it resembles white, flocky, lumpy or fibrous bodies, without taste or odor.