Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1887. 
Commercial  Saccharin. 
625 
one-eighth  to  one-quarter  inch  in  length.  These  were  distinctly  sweet 
and  contaminated  with  amorphous  matter.  In  some  of  their  reactions 
they  correspond  with  benzoic  acid,  but  having  failed  to  obtain  them 
in  sufficient  quantity  and  in  a  state  of  purity  to  determine  their  melt- 
ing point,  I  reserve  my  judgment  in  respect  of  their  identity.  Crystals 
having  similar  characters  and  properties  appeared  upon  heating 
together  an  intimate  mixture  of  calcium  oxide  and  saccharin. 
Ignited  with  free  access  of  air  my  sample  gave  a  residue  amounting 
to  not  less  than  6*67  per  cent.  It  failed  to  liberate  boracic  acid  from 
a  solution  borax  either  in  the  cold  or  on  boiling  or  after  being  kept 
over  a  water-bath  for  four  hours.  When  introduced  into  a  strong 
boiling  solution  of  potassium  ferrocyanide,  green  particles  immediately 
separated,  which  after  subsidence  were  seen  to  be  of  the  same  charac- 
teristic color.  The  decomposition  was  accompanied  by  the  elimination 
of  hydrocyanic  acid.  When  similarly  treated  with  potassium  ferrid- 
cyanide  a  faint  odor  of  hydrocyanic  acid  was  evolved,  and  the  solution, 
after  copious  dilution  with  water,  was  of  an  apple-green  color. 
The  method  recommended  by  Schmitt1  for  the  detection  of  saccharin 
was  put  to  the  test,  and  both  its  delicacy  and  accuracy  were  verified. 
"  It  is  based  on  the  fact  that  Fahlberg's  saccharin  yields  sodium  sali- 
cylate on  fusing  with  sodium  hydrate."  "  The  fused  mass  is  dissolved 
in  water  and  tested  for  salicylic  acid  by  acidifying  with  dilute  sulphuric 
acid,  shaking  with  ether,  evaporating  the  latter,  and  adding  a  drop  of 
ferric  chloride  solution  to  the  residue." 
The  three  points  which  I  desire  to  emphasize  on  account  of  their 
wide  divergence  from  the  results  already  referred  to,  as  published  by 
Mr.  Gravill,  are  the  temperature  of  fusion,  the  amount  of  fixed  resi- 
due, and  the  non-liberation  of  boracic  acid  from  a  solution  of  borax. 
It  is  pertinent  to  note  that  Mr.  Gravill  is  careful  to  point  out  that  the 
sample  to  which  his  notes  refer  represents  a  portion  of  the  first  supply 
offered  as  a  commercial  article.  He  concludes  it  also  represents  that 
which  now  occurs  in  commerce.  On  what  hypothesis  is  this  remark- 
able difference  to  be  explained  ?  Assuming  accuracy  in  their  work  for 
both  experimenters,  which  is  to  be  the  article  for  the  future  ?  and,  if 
variable,  will  its  fluctuations  in  price  correspond  with  the  variations  in 
the  proportions  of  the  fixed  residue  ? 
Of  equal  importance  to  the  pharmacist  is  the  question  of  its  pharma- 
ceutical uses.    As  a  flavoring  agent  for  disguising  the  taste  of  unpala- 
1  For  abstract,  vide  The  Analyst,  October,  1887,  p.  200. 
