BLOOD OF OUR SAVIOUR, an ,order of knighthbod, known also as the Order of Our Redeemer, and the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. It was instituted in Mantua, Italy, in 1608, by Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga and consisted of 20 members. Upon the collar was the legend Do mine probasti me, and on the pendant Nihil isto triste recepto. The name originated in the tradition that certain drops of the Saviour's blood are preserved in Saint Andrew's Church, Mantua. Consult Laurence-Ascher,
in medico-legal inves tigations, are subjects of some importance, par ticularly when murder is suspected and so called blood-stains are to be investigated. The first question to be determined is whether the suspected stain is blood of any animal; secondly, is it human blood or that of a lower animal. To determine the first question certain tests have been devised. These are (1) the guaiac test, by which blood brought in contact with tinc ture of guaiac and hydrogen peroxide develops a blue color (not, however, conclusive) ; (2) the hwmin test, by which crystals are produced from the haemoglobin and identified under the microscope; (3) the spectroscope test, which gives a spectrum of haemoglobin; (4) the mi croscope test by which the blood-corpuscles are identifies. To answer the second ques
tion requires either (1) the microscopical ex amination that determines the size, shape and qualities of the blood-corpuscles; or (2) a much more reliable serum test, by which human serum, if brought in contact with the blood of an alien animal, causes dissolution of the blood-corpuscles of that animal's blood. By this serum test it is possible to detect any blood of any animal. The appearance of blood-stains varies, 'according to the character of the sub stance stained and the age of the stain. Con sult Major Sutherland, t Blood Stains: Their Detection and the Determination of their Source' (New York 1907), and Witthaus and Becker, (Vol. III, New York 1909). See Brno/