5' 



HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSS IP. 



and strong chemical agents, takes up saccharine 

 freely. One gallon of a 40 per cent, mixture of 

 alcohol and water will hold 1391*6 grains ; a gallon 

 of 80 per cent, alcohol takes up 2250" 5, while absolute 

 alcohol — that is to say, alcohol perfectly free of any 

 admixture of water — only takes up 2llS"9 grains. 

 This great solubility of saccharine in alcohol will 

 be of much service to manufacturers of pure British 

 wines, liqueurs, cordials, and essences. In practice, 

 it is found more convenient to dissolve the sweeten- 

 ing agent in warm solutions of alcohol and water. 

 Warm glycerine also dissolves it well, but the pre- 

 sence of glycerine would unfit the solution for domestic 

 purposes. 



Saccharine promises to have three great fields before 

 it, if not more. Its culinary uses may not be very 

 great — though opinions are divided on that point — 

 except for the preparation of sweetmeats and con- 

 fectionery ; and as it has already been found possible 

 to manufacture pure and wholesome sweets flavoured 

 with it, and not containing cane sugar, it can hardly 

 fail to give a decided impetus to the sweetmeat trade. 

 Unfortunately it must not be forgotten that sugar is a 

 valuable and cheap food, agreeing well enough with 

 most people, and the substitution of minute quantities 

 of saccharine for common sugar will diminish the 

 nutritive properties of the foods to "which it is added. 

 Again, it can be used to cover the sickening taste of 

 many strong drugs, at any rate, the medical papers 

 promise, in their usual hopeful spirit, great things in 

 that direction. Every practical physician soon learns, 

 however, that tasteless and so-called palatable prepara- 

 tions of strong modern medicines are often, after two 

 or three doses, most repulsive to the patient, and it may 

 be found that after the first wonder is over, people 

 will prefer the drug in its ordinary form to taking it 

 mixed with saccharine. Time will show ; and we 

 cordially wish the enterprising chemists who have 

 taken up this part of the work all the success their 

 good intentions merit. 



Lastly, saccharine is not changed in its passage 

 through the body, and does not ferment like cane- 

 sagar. It is also said to have powerful antiseptic 

 properties ; in many cases, therefore, in which the 

 aged sufferer craves for sweets, but cannot, without 

 pain indulge in that, to him, dangerous luxury — cane- 

 sugar — he will now, we must hope, be able to fall 

 back upon saccharine, which, again, in many familiar, 

 but not the less loathsome and destructive diseases, 

 is found to be an invaluable help to the skilful 

 physician. 



We have, we think, said enough to show that, 

 much though the world owes to chemistry and to 

 coal-tar, it is not often that a discovery like that of 

 saccharine gives promise of greater things to come in 

 the days, not perhaps far distant, when the chemist 

 will, in his laboratory, manufacture many of the 

 commoner and more useful foods. 



]Vinibor;u\ 



THE VINEGAR EEL {ANGUILLULA ACETI). 



OWING to the fact, that vinegar is now usually 

 freed from its mucilaginous impurities (on 

 which this creature feeds), the vinegar eel is not 

 such a common object for the microscope as it used 

 to be. 



The mature female anguillula (Fig. 21) is about 



7JI 



w " 



}— 



Fig. 22. — Head of vinegar eel, 

 female. (*«) mouth ; {p/i) 

 pharynx ; [oc) oesophagus ; (g) 

 gizzard ; {*) intestine. X 250. 



Fig. 21. — Mature female. (w) 

 mouth ; [ph) pharynx ; («) posi- 

 tion of nervous ganglion ; (g) 

 gizzard ; (z) intestine ; (z') lower 

 portion of intestine ; [a] rectum ; 

 \r) anus; (s) style. 



one-tenth of an inch in length, the mature male, 

 one-fifteenth. Both sexes seem to vary in size. 



The body is long and filiform, of nearly uniform 

 thickness, but tapering gently towards the head and 

 less gradually towards the tail, which ends in a long, 

 fine spine. The transparent body permits a close 

 examination of the internal structure. 



