  The article discusses selected properties of the non- and superconducting
polycrystalline samples of RuSr2GdCu2O8 and comments the consequences of
introducing insignificant sub-stoichiometry of Ru into the nominal formula. The
magneto-resistive and the magnetic characteristics are interpreted in favour of
the formation of the intrinsically inhomogeneous superconducting phase, which
seems to be stabilized along with the structural modifications likely enhanced
with the modification of starting stoichiometry. The specific heat data reveals
the shift of temperature of the magnetic ordering T_{m}, suggesting the
dilution in magnetic sublattice of the Ru moments. The measurements of the
magnetic field dependences of the isothermal magnetocaloric coefficient M_{T}
show that there is no gain in magnetic entropy in a broad range of the accessed
fields and temperatures. Whereas the multi-component character of the probed
magnetic system precludes from concluding on the ground state for the Ru
ordering, the maximum in M_{T}(H) which occurs at weak magnetic fields for
temperature vicinity of T_{m} may reflect dominance of the ferromagnetic type
interactions with a constrained correlation range. The literature explored
models for the Ru magnetic ordering and possible phase separation in the
RuSr2GdCu2O8 are brought into the discussion.
