304 ON PEPSINE. 
acetate of lead. These facts were little known in France when this 
substance was extracted from the rennet by Deschainps, by means of 
ammonia, by Pay en from the gastric juice by alcohol ; other processes 
are given by George Wood and Franklin Bache, authors of the United 
States Dispensatory, &c, &c. 
. After extraction, pepsine, freshly prepared and dissolved in acidulated 
water, is precipitated from its solution by protosulphate of iron, acetate 
of lead, sulphate of copper, bichloride of mercury, tannin, alcohol, &c, 
it combines with certain acids, and it is in this state that it exists in the 
gastric juice, but we do not think it is able to form definite salts, so that 
the names of acetate and hydrochlorate of pepsine are wrongfully em- 
ployed ; without any trace of acid, and neutral to litmus, it is little or 
not at all soluble in water. Experience has shown the physiological 
action of pepsine, to which the gastric juice owes its digestive powers, 
as it produces the operations of digestion exactly identical. 
2. Its Employ. — It should be a medicine acceptable to the taste, and 
the digestive power, naturally variable, should be brought by science to 
a uniform standard ; and, finally, that a chemical determination should 
be made as to the doses in which it should be administered. It was in 
1851 that the first chemical observations were made by Corvisart, and 
towards the end of 1852 this doctor communicated his opinions to the 
Academy of Sciences ; some refused to admit the idea of assisting human 
digestion by the digestive agent of animals, or that this, once extracted, 
could retain the properties it possessed as gastric juice ; but others, more, 
advanced in modern science, saw in this a radical progress in an entire 
branch of therapeutics. In 1854, Corvisart determined the form, the 
mode of administration, the doses, and the cases which required the 
application of this new physiological medicine ; the detailed observa- 
tions of a great number of physicians depose to the correctness of the 
result stated. Thirty-two cases were reported, in a third the contra 
test recommended by Corvisart had been tried with the best success, viz. 
with the cessation of the pepsine at meals the indigestion reappeared. The 
same year, Silliet (Geneva) stated the good effects of its use, and re- 
commended that it should be tried in all cases of disordered stomach. , 
In 1855, L. Fleury reported many successful cases. Desmartes (Bordeaux) 
advocated its employ in chlorosis and choleraic diarrhoea of infants. 
Dechambie also published the happy results from its use ; and Debout, . 
from his experience, particularly recommended it in the diarrhoea of 
young children. In 1856, Corvisart was rewarded by the Institute. In , 
1857, Ballard, physician to St. George's Hospital, having employed 
Boudault's pepsine, stated, "he thought that lie ought to acquaint the 
profession with the results he had obtained, as they promised henceforth 
to largely diminish the mortality from many diseases ;" at the same 
period, another English physician, Nelson, confirmed the good effects of 
liquid pepsine (liquor pepticus). Finally, T. K. Chambers, Dr. Todd, 
Dr. Protheroe Smith, James Ross, William Moore (Dublin), strengthened 
