The Scope and Fallacies of the Florence Reaction for Seminal Stains
| Author | Gilbert Forbes |
| Published date | 01 April 1940 |
| Date | 01 April 1940 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X4001300206 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Scope and Fallacies of the Florence
Reaction for Seminal Stains
By
GILBERT
FORBES
B.Sc., M.B., Ch.B., F.R.F.P.S., F.R.C.S. Ed.
Police Surgeon to the City of Sheffield,
Lecturer
in Forensic Medicine,
University of Sheffield.
INTRODUCTION
THE
reaction described by Florence in 1896 is widely used
as a preliminary test for seminal stains, and it is usually
considered that if the test is negative spermatozoa will not be
found in the material. Conversely it is maintained that if a
positive reaction is obtained spermatozoa will always be found
after a prolonged search (Smith). At first it was hoped that
the reaction would be specific for seminal fluid,
but
since
it
has been recognised that this micro-chemical reaction depends
on the action of the iodine in the reagent on the choline in
the spermatic fluid to produce crystals of periodide of choline,
the lack of absolute specificity has been admitted.
The
reason
for this admission is that choline is a basic substance in most
animal tissues though spermatic fluid contains more choline
than any other body tissue or secretion.
The
work of Fletcher,
Best, and Solandt has shown that spermatic fluid from the
adult white rat contains
514
m.grs. of choline per
100
grs. of
tissue, while the spinal cord and brain, the organs with the
next largest choline content, each contain 370 and 325 m.grs.
per
100
grs. of tissue respectively.
The
Florence reaction is
therefore not specific for spermatozoa nor for that matter for
spermatic fluid,
but
according to Kahane is so for all
substances containing choline. With this finding I do not
entirely agree.
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