Further observations on the volatile chlorine of blood.

IN a previous paper [Morris and Morris, 1930] it was shown that drying of blood at 1050 for a period of 4 hours led to, a diminution in the chlorine content and it was suggested that the chlorine lost by drying was probably contained in a volatile organic compound. Sunderman and Williams [1931] published figures indicating that while a loss of chlorine occurred on drying blood and tissues it could be prevented by adding water to the dried blood and allowing the mixture to remain for 3 hours prior to the estimation of the chlorine. They further showed that the addition of olive oil to a solution of sodium chloride with subsequent drying led to the loss of a certain amount of chlorine which also could be prevented by the addition of water after drying and prior to the estimation, and concluded that in the case of blood the loss of chlorine was only an apparent one, being probably due to the effect of occlusion of the chlorine by fat. Quagliariello and Mazza [1931], on the other hand, state that the loss of chlorine on the heating of blood is due to drying and loss of HC1 and is therefore no indication of the presence of organic chlorine compounds. Hogartz [1931] found no evidence of organic compounds of chlorine by extraction methods involving the use of alcohol and ether. In our previous paper the results of experiments were given showing that the chlorine lost from the dried blood could be recovered almost quantitatively although not in the form of free chlorine or hydrochloric acid. In view of the results of Sunderman and Williams with olive oil, it was thought necessary to confirm our previous results and study the variations in the amounts of chlorine volatilised under different conditions.