AmjJu"rx8P7h8arra'}  Gleanings  from  the  French  Journals.  343 
(For  a  description  of  these  species  see  "  Amer.  Jour,  Phar.," 
^75,  p.  177  and  2I4-) 
The  Lactic  Fermentation  of  Milk  Sugar.  By  Richet. — Milk 
kept  at  40°C.  coagulates  and  acquires  an  acidity  equal  to  1*6  gram  of 
lactic  acid  for  100  of  milk.  The  fermentation  is  completely  arrested 
if  sufficient  hydrochloric  or  sulphuric  acid  is  added  to  the  milk,  so  that 
the  acidity  will  correspond  with  1  per  cent,  of  lactic  acid.  But  if 
gastric  juice  is  added  to  the  milk  the  casein  will  be  coagulated  and 
redissolved,  and  the  lactic  fermentation  will  proceed  with  an  extraor- 
dinary rapidity,  so  that  at  the  end  of  four  or  five  days  as  much  as  4 
per  cent,  of  lactic  acid  may  have  been  produced.  The  rational 
explanation  of  this  difference  seems  to  be  that  the  dissolved  casein 
serves  as  a  nutrition  to  the  ferment  ;  for  if  the  milk  is  filtered  imme- 
diately after  its  coagulation  by  rennet,  the  whey  which  contains  all  the 
lactose,  but  no  casein,  will  acquire  an  acidity,  never  surpassing  1*6  per 
cent,  of  lactic  acid.  On  the  other  hand,  casein,  deprived  of  milk 
sugar,  will  ferment  and  yield  lactic  and  butyric  acids  among  the  pro- 
ducts of  decomposition.  These  observations  explain  why  unfiltered 
milk  ferments  better  than  filtered  milk  ;  the  author  obtained,  in  one 
case,  from  the  former,  3  9  per  cent.,  but  after  filtration  only  i'6  per 
cent,  of  acid. — Jour,  de  Phar.  et  de  Chim.,  May,  p.  371. 
Sulphovinate  of  Quinia. — P.  Carles  has  ascertained  that  an  acid 
and  a  neutral  sulphovinate  of  quinia  may  be  obtained,  the  former  of 
which  is  very  hygroscopic  and,  on  account  of  its  strong  acid  reaction, 
is  not  adapted  for  subcutaneous  injections.  The  neutral  salt  is 
obtained  by  dissolving  16*6  grams  of  pure  sulphovinate  of  sodium  in 
200  grams  of  90  per  cent,  alcohol,  and  42*8  grams  officinal  sulphate  of 
quinia  in  600  grams  of  the  same  alcohol,  mixing  the  solutions,  filter- 
ing from  the  precipitated  sodium  sulphate,  and  evaporating.  The  salt 
is  perfectly  neutral,  crystallizes  with  difficulty  in  radiating  prisms,  is 
inodorous,  of  a  very  bitter  taste,  dissolves  in  3  parts  of  water  at  I5°C. 
and  in  less  alcohol.  It  is  likewise  very  soluble  in  acetic  ether  and 
glycerin,  but  insoluble  in  absolute  ether,  benzol,  oil  of  turpentine 
and  fixed  oils  ;  with  the  latter,  however,  a  kind  of  an  emulsion  may  be 
formed  on  the  addition  of  a  few  drops  of  alcohol. — Ibid.,  June,  p.  463, 
from  Bull.  Soct  Phar.,  Bordeaux,  March,  1878. 
Pancreatin. — According  to  Th.  Defresne,  good  pancreatin  should 
have  the  following  characters  : 
