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838 THE SKIN AND ITS SECRETIONS.
The quantity of sulphur and of mineral bodies is of certain interest.
The sulphur and cystine content of these structures can be found on
pages 113, 114 and in this connection it must be mentioned that, accord-
ing to the investigations of Rutherford and Hawk,1
the sulphur content
of human hair is higher in men than in women, at least for the Caucasian
race, and also that red hair has the highest sulphur content irrespective
of race or gender. Hair on incineration leaves considerable ash, which
in human hair varies between 2.6 and 16 p. m., and in animal hair
is still greater, even up to 71 p. m. in the hair of the deer. The ash
consists of large amounts of alkali and calcium sulphate, and its sulphur
probably originates from the organic substance, which make the state-
ments as to the composition of the ash of hair of little value. Calcium
occurs in larger amounts, especially phosphate as well as carbonate, and is
most abundant in white hair. The amount of iron oxide in 1000 grams
of the ash of human hair varies between 42.2 grams in blond and 108.7
grams in brown hair, and silicic acid between 66.1 grams in black and
424.6 grams in red hair (Baudrimont). The nails are rich in calcium
phosphate, and the feathers rich in silicic acid, especially the feathers
of grain-eating birds. According to v. Gorup-Besanez 2
the quantity
of silicic acid in grain-eating birds was 400 p. m., and in meat, berries
and insect-eating birds the amount was only 270 p. m. of the total ash.
Drechsel claims that at least a part of the silicic acid exists in the
feathers in organic combination as an ester while according to Cerny 3
it
exists only as an accidental contamination.
According to Gautier and Bertrand 4
arsenic also occurs in the
epidermal formations. Gautier says that arsenic is of importance in
the formation and growth of the formations, and on the other hand the
hair, nails, and epidermis-cells are of great importance in the excretion
of arsenic.
The ability of the skin to take up chlorides as observed by Wahlgren
aDd by Padtberg,5 is remarkable. According to them the skin is an
important chloride depot, which stores up chlorides when supplied in
excess and gives them up when necessary.
The skin of invertebrates has been the subject, in a few cases, of
chemical investigation, and in these animals various substances have
been found, of which a few, though little studied, are worth discussing.
Among them tunicin, which is found especially in the mantle of the
1
Journ. of Biol. Chem., 3.
1
Lehr. d. physiol. Chem., 4. Aufl., 660, 661; Baudrimont, ibid.
* Drechsel, Centralbl. f. Physiol., 11, 361; Cerny, Zeitschr. (. physiol. Chem., 62.
Gautier, Compt. Rend., 129, 130, 131; Bertrand, ibid., 134.
’ Wahlgren, Arch. f. exp. Path. u. Pharm., 61; Padtberg, ibid., 63.
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