142 
Manufacture  of  Pepsin, 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1      March  ,1893. 
but  the  peptic  glands  produce  fresh  peptic  secretion,  which  is 
retained  and  dried  in  the  skins.  It  would  seem  that  the  peptic 
ferment,  when  reduced  to  powder  in  the  very  glands  where  it  has 
been  generated,  retains,  in  a  very  high  degree,  its  active  digestive 
power,  so  that  when  mixed  with  warm  acidulated  water  and  albumin, 
it  proves  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  pepsin  made  by  a  more  com- 
plicated and  more  scientific  process. 
Schejfer's  Process. — Scheffer  availed  himself  of  the  fact  that 
albuminous  matter  is  thrown  out  of  solution  by  the  addition  of  salt 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  form  a  nearly  concentrated  solution  of 
pepsin.  In  following  this  .plan,  it  is  found  that  ordinary  albuminous 
matter  is  far  more  easily  precipitated  by  salt  than  pure  pepsin,  in  fact 
it  appears  that  pure  pepsin  in  solution,  when  treated  with  salt,  is  not 
fully  precipitated,  but  floats  about  in  the  salt  solution  without  either 
rising  or  falling.  When  ordinary  albuminous  matter  is  present, 
however,  it  carries  the  pepsin  mechanically  with  it  to  the  surface. 
In  making  pepsin  by  Scheffer's  process,  the  inner  coatings  of  the 
fresh  pig's  stomach,  which  contain  the  greater  portion  of  the  peptic 
secretion,  are  stripped  off  from  the  outer  fleshy  portions.  Immedi- 
ately after  killing,  and  while  the  stomachs  are  still  warm,  this  can 
be  easily  effected.  After  being  well  washed,  both  the  inner  and  the 
outer  coatings  are  separately  passed  through  a  mincing  machine^ 
and  each  is  separately  macerated  in  cold  water  acidulated  with 
hydrochloric  acid.  In  operating  upon  200  stomachs,  the  inner  coat- 
ings weighed  about  103  pounds  when  mixed,  and  occupied  a  bulk  of 
about  10  gallons  ;  the  outer  coatings,  when  treated  in  like  manner, 
weighed  and  measured  a  little  more.  Each  of  these  portions  was 
put  in  a  70-gallon  cask,  which  was  filled  with  cold  water,  to  which 
32  ounces  of  strong  hydrochloric  acid  had  been  added.  These  two 
masses  were  from  time  to  time  well  stirred,  and  allowed  to  stand  over 
night.  Next  morning,  after  another  good  stirring,  they  were  strained 
separately  through  canvas  bags  about  3  feet  4  inches  long,  tapering 
down  to  a  bottom  about  5  inches  square,  the  top  circumference  of 
the  bag  being  about  4^  feet.  One  bag  like  this  will  hold  and  drain 
the  200  minced  stomachs.  After  allowing  the  liquors  to  drain  off, 
it  is  advisable  to  make  a  preliminary  test,  to  ascertain  their 
behavior  with  salt.  The  liquor  from  the  inner  coatings  strains 
more  readily  than  that  from  the  fleshy  portions,  and  there  is  more 
of  it.    Should  the  solutions  appear  milky,  and  strain  and  filter  baeHy> 
