418 RECORD OF SCIENCE FOR 1886. 



abetic persons may enjoy food which has hitherto not been admissible 

 in their case. Saccharine does not belong to the class of carbohydrates, 

 and does not possess nutritious properties. The use of saccharine will 

 therefore, as indicated by its properties, be not merely as a probable 

 substitute for sugar, but it may even be applied to medicinal purpose 

 where sugar is not permissible. The inventor was fully aware that in 

 order to supply a perfect substitute for cane or beet-root sugar, some- 

 thing else, viz, a similar substance, was needed for confectionery and 

 similar i)urposes, besides sweetening properties, and he has also en- 

 deavored to solve this probleni. Dr. Fahlberg combines glucose with 

 starch sugar, a substance very similar to cane or beetroot sugar, but 

 inferior to these in sweetening properties, with saccharine, aiid thus 

 obtains a compound which he calls "dextro-saccharine," which, as far 

 as the taste is concerned, is scarcely distinguishable from the best sugar. 

 The quantity of saccharine used is in the proportion of one i)art to bom 

 1,000 to 2,000 parts of glucose. Now, since the x)rice of saccharine is at 

 present about GO.v a pound, we shall find that even at this price such a 

 mixture would be very considerably cheai)er than real sugar, but we 

 must bear in mind the fact that there is great likelihood of the process 

 of manufacture of saccharine being considerably cheapened. 



It will then be evident not only that saccharine is a most interesting 

 com])ound, but that it may also be destined to become an article of pri- 

 mary commercial importance. The future must decide as to the rev- 

 olutions it may bring about in the coal-tar industry, in the cultivation 

 of the soil now devoted to growing canes or beets, and in the sugar in- 

 dustry generally and other industries connected with it; but as great 

 and important commercial interests are in question, it is highly advisa- 

 ble to look well into this matter, and not allow our foreign com])etitors 

 in this and other markets to secure for themselves exclusively the ben- 

 etit which this discovery may confer. There are in commerce small balls 

 made from starch, to w hich has been added .05 per cent, of saccliarine, 

 of which one is sufficient to impart a very sweet taste, very similar to 

 that of the best sugar, to a large cup of black coffee. 



Investigations on the SulpMnides, by Dr. Ira Remsen. — The benzoic 

 sulphinide described in the preceding note has been further studied by 

 the author. By the substitution of the ethoxyl group for hydrogen 

 paraethoxybenzoic sulphinide w^as obtained, crystallizing in tine white 

 needles, melting at 257° to 258°. This derivative has not the sweet 

 taste characteristic of the benzoic sulphinide. Another derivative, para- 

 brombenzoic sulphinide, crystallizing in long needles and subliiuing in 

 feathery flakes at about 200°, has a remarkable taste. When first placed 

 upon the tongue its taste is extremely sweet, fully as much so as that 

 of benzoic sulphinide, a single small crystal being able to sweeten luilf 

 a liter of water. After the sweet taste has passed an equally bitter tasto 

 takes its ])lace, reminding one in its extreme bitterness of strychnine. 

 This peculiarity cau not be due to the presence of two substances of 

 difterent degrees of solubility, since the purest specimens have this 

 l)roperty. (Am. Chem. J,, viii, 223.) 



raranitrohenzoic Svlphinide, etc., by W. A. Noyes. — This body crys-. 

 tallizes in small leaflets and in fine needles, fusing at 209°. It is dill\-. 



