SEROUS FLUIDS. This term is applied by chemists and physicians to various fluids occurring in the animal body. They are arranged by Gorup-Besanez, one of the highest authorities on physiological chemistry, under three heads: 1. Those which are contained in the serous sacs of the body, as the cerebrospinal fluid, the pericardial fluid, the peri, toneal fluid, the pleural fluid, the fluid of the tuniea vaginalis testis, and the synovial fluid. 2. The tears and the fluids existing in the eyeball, the amniotic fluid, and transu dations into the tissue of organs. 3. Morbid or excessive transudations, such as dropsical fluids, the fluids occurring in hydatids, and in blebs and vesicles on the skin, and transu dations from the blood in the intestinal capillaries, as in cases of intestinal catarrh, cholera, or dysentery.
All these fluids bear a close resemblance to one another, both in their physical and chemical characters. In so far as relates to their physical characters they are usually clear and transparent, colorless or slightly yellow, of a slight saline, mawkish taste, and exhibiting an Llkaline reaction with test-paper. They possess no special formal or histo logical elements, but on a microscopic examination blood-corpuscles, cells of various kinds, molecular granules, and epithelium may occasionally be observed in them. The
ordinary chemical constituents of these fluids are water, fibrine (occasionally), albumen, the fats, animal soaps, cholesterine, extractive matters, urea (occasionally), time same inor ganic salts which arc found in the serum of the blood, and the same gases as occur in the blood. As rare constituents, and only occurring in disease, may be mentioned sugar, time biliary acids, salts of lactic and succinic acids, creatinine, mucine, etc. The follow ing analysis of four of these fluids will serve to give a good idea of their composition: SERMONkTA, MterrELAxoEno CAETANI, Duke of; b. Italy, 1804, of a noble and ancient family. He early showed great talent as an artist, and as a literary man. He was an earnest student of Dante, and has published several essays on the Dirina Commedia, ac well as a series of illustrations, of originality and delicacy of execution. Since 1865 Se-moneta has been blind. In 1870 he was president of the commission which announced to Victor Emmanuel the result of the Roman plebiscite.