Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
December,  1897.  / 
Dig£ stive  Power  of  Pepsin. 
637 
tion  of  fresh  pepsin  in  raspberry  vinegar.  This  constitutes  an  excel- 
lent preparation,  and  at  present  I  know  of  no  better;  but  the  public 
never  took  very  well  to  this  "  pepsin  elixir,"  as  many  persons  have  a 
decided  objection  to  acids.  It  has,  however,  been  prescribed  with 
satisfactory  results. 
The  experiments  referred  to  were  conducted  in  glass  bottles 
placed  in  a  water-bath  kept  at  a  uniform  temperature  of  ioo°  F.  by 
means  of  a  Reichart's  thermo-regulator.  The  importance  of  adopt- 
ing the  same  temperature  on  all  occasions  when  conducting  com- 
parative experiments  was  rendered  evident  by  increasing  the  tem- 
perature to  uo°  F.,  when  digestion  was  found  to  proceed  much 
more  vigorously  than  at  ioo°  F.,  all  other  conditions  being  equal. 
Still,  the  presence  of  alcohol  had  the  same  prejudicial  effect  in  retard- 
ing solution  of  the  coagulated  albumen  used.  If,  however,  the 
bottles  were  replaced  by  wetted  animal  membranes,  the  condition  of 
things  was  materially  altered.  It  was  found  that  the  alcohol  present 
in  the  liquid  through  which  the  coagulated  albumen  was  distributed 
soon  began  to  diffuse  through  the  wetted  membrane,  and  that  the 
pepsin  commenced  to  act  with  the  same  energy  as  in  those  con- 
tainers where  no  alcohol  was  present,  so  that  at  the  end  of  two 
hours  there  was  no  considerable  difference  between  the  weight  of 
undissolved  albumen  in  each  case.  The  interest  which  this  experi- 
ment has  for  us,  as  pharmacists,  is  that  it  shows  that  an  alcoholic 
liquid,  such  as  wine,  may  be  used  in  preparing  a  solution  of  pepsin 
for  medicinal  use,  and  that  if  properly  made  it  soon  becomes  active 
when  taken  into  the  stomach  in  the  presence  of  suitable  food.  Recti- 
fied spirit  may  also  be  used  as  a  preservative  in  making  essence  of 
rennet,  because  its  excessive  dilution  and  ready  evaporation,  when 
mixed  with  the  proper  quantity  of  milk  and  warmed,  overcome  any 
prejudicial  effect  the  spirit  may  have  on  the  peptic  bodies  present. 
Glycerin  is  an  excellent  solvent  of  pepsin,  as  is  well  known;  but 
unless  it  is  used  in  sufficiently  large  quantity  to  render  the  solution 
distasteful  to  the  patient,  it  is  not  a  good  preservative.  A  solution 
of  freshly  prepared  undried  pepsin  in  dilute  glycerin,  to  which  IO 
per  cent,  of  rectified  spirit  is  added,  forms,  when  filtered,  an  excel- 
lent medicinal  preparation  which  may  be  flavored  to  taste. 
