APIS. 



qualities. It is made by placing freshly caught live bees in a box 

 covered with a sieve, then shaking them until they are intensely ex- 

 cited. The bees are now quickly put into alcohol sufficient to cover 

 them, and digested at a warm temperature for a month. The dark 

 colored alcoholic liquid is then decanted, and the bees repeatedly ex- 

 tracted with 50 per cent alcohol, until exhausted. The liquids are all 

 mixed together and brought to a strength representing two ounces 

 of bees to a pint. 



Qualities. — This, in thin layer, has a dark straw color, but in bulk 

 presents a deep wine shade. It has a peculiar, wax-like odor, and a 

 sweetish taste. Increase of alcoholic percentage in its preparation 

 decreases the color, because of failure to dissolve the colored honey 

 products, that are soluble in water but insoluble in alcohol. The 

 larger share of the residue obtained by evaporation of Specific Medi- 

 cine Apis is a natural compound of honey or related structures ex- 

 tracted from the bee, and having an acid reaction. This has no estab- 

 lished therapeutic qualities, but may yet be valuable. Indeed (see 

 Honey, this treatise), it has long been highly valued, and is sometimes 

 very energetic. Since the natural honey has always been present in 

 Specific Medicine Apis, we propose that it shall remain a constituent 

 of this remedy. One drop of Specific Medicine Apis responds abun- 

 dantly to Fehling's glucose test. If 25 Cc. of Specific Medicine Apis 

 be abstracted with chloroform and the chloroform solution abstracted 

 with dilute sulphuric acid, the resultant acid solution responds to 

 Mayer's test for alkaloids. 



The diluted Specific Medicine Apis, from which all the alcohol 

 is evaporated, when acidulated with sulphuric acid responds, although 

 but feebly, to Mayer's alkaloidal test. The venom of the bee, intensi- 

 fied by the previous shaking excitation, is of course one of the struc- 

 tural constituents of the remedy. 



The therapeutic action of Specific Medicine Apis depends upon 

 a complexity of organic unknowns. Whoever breaks these natural 

 structures of virus, alkaloid, glucose, etc., etc., into fragments, ex- 

 pecting from the use of a single fragment, the success derived from 

 the whole remedy, is destined to disappointment. In this connection 

 we call attention to the following article descriptive of an energetic 

 peptic enzyme derived from honey, believing that in the present 

 state of professional tolerance the article will merit more considera- 

 tion than would have been the case before the serum crusade. 



New Peptic Enzyme from Honey. — A new proteolytic enzyme was ac- 

 cidentally discovered in honey in the following way: A solution of honey 

 was concerted into mead by fermentation with yeast, and some of the 

 mead having been kept in an imperfectly closed vessel underwent acetic 

 fermentation. The honey-vinegar so obtained was agreeable to taste, and 

 some of It was employed in pickling some herrings, but the next day it 

 was found that the herrings had largely disappeared; a repetition of the 

 trial showed that the liquid dissolved a considerable amount of the her- 

 rings and disintegrated the remainder. The vinegar was then examined, 

 to discover the cause of this action; it contained 0.033 per cent, of nitrogen; 

 when filtered it formed a clear liquid, which remained clear when saturated 

 with sodium chloride and gave no precipitate with solution of potassium 



