THE BEHAVIOR OF TARTARIC ACID AND THE 

 TARTRATES IN THE ANIMAL ORGANISM 



MAX KAHN 



Introduction. In a recent paper by Carles,^ attention was 

 drawn to the important part played by tartaric acid in wine manu- 

 facture, and a prophesy was made that within ten years the con- 

 sumption of tartaric acid would be increased ten-fold. Tartaric 

 acid and tartrates are used extensively, not only in wines but also 

 in baking powders, in medicated waters and in candies. Com- 

 paratively little experimental work has been done on the pharma- 

 cology of tartaric acid and tartrates. The importance of exact 

 knowledge in these connections is evident. 



Dextro-tartaric acid was isolated first by Scheele, in 1768, and 

 obtained in crystalline form by Retzius, in 1770, who designated 

 it Sal essentiale tartari. Its composition and salts were studied 

 by Gay-Lussac, Berzelius, and others; its optical properties, espe- 

 cially, by Biot (1815) and Pasteur (i84i).2 Four optical isomers 

 are known: dextro-, levo-j para- (racemic), and m^.yo-tartaric 

 acids. 



Tartaric acid is one of the most widely distributed acids in the 

 plant kingdom. It is present in the free State, or in the form of 

 salts, in grapes, mountain-ash berries, tamarinds,^ tomatoes,^ cu- 

 cumbers, potatoes, black pepper, pineapple and in leguminous plants.^ 

 It has also been found in grape leaves,® senna leaves,'^ liverwort,^ 

 ferns, beet juice, and fungi.'^ 



1 Carles : Repert pharm., 1913, xxiv, p. 387. 



2 Hare, Caspari and Rusby : National Dispensatory, 1905, p. 90. 



3 Adam : Zeit. d. östcrr. Apoth.-Vereins, 1905, xliii, p. 797. 

 ^Albahary: Compt. rend., 1907, cxlv, p. 137. 



ß Müller: Arch. d. Pharmaz., 1883, ccxxi, p. 42; Hecke! and Schlagden- 

 hauffen : Jour. d. pharm, et d. chim., 1889, xix, p. 11. 

 ^ Piti : Ber. d. d. ehem. Ges., 1873, vi, p. 1313. 

 ^ Wallis : Pharmaceut. Jour., 1912, xxxv, p. 644. 

 8 Zopf : Die Pilze, Breslau, 1890. 

 ö Fritsch : Arch. d. Pharmas., 1889, ccxxvii, p. 193. 



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