84 
Wine  of  Beef  and  Iron. 
I  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I        Feb.,  1890. 
particular  sample  the  specific  gravity  was  very  low;  the 
percentage  of  alcohol  from  one-fourth  to  one-fifth  of  what  it 
should  be,  total  solids  and  ash  one-half  as  much  as  found  in 
simple  sherry  wine  and  the  amount  of  nitrogen  yielded  was 
well  within  the  ordinary  limit  of  error.  The  claims  made  for 
this  article  are  very  comprehensive,  but  too  indefinite  to 
merit  attention. 
The  figures  obtained  from  sample  E  show  at  once  that  it 
contains  some  beef ;  not  as  much,  however,  as  the  claim 
would  warrant  as  can  be  seen  by  comparing  with  results  from 
sample  F.  The  former  contains  a  little  over  2,  the  latter 
about  8  per  cent,  of  the  extract.  The  larger  amount  of  solids 
in  E  is  accounted  for  by  the  presence  of  sugar.  Its  per- 
centage of  ash  is  less  and  of  iron  greater  than  in  F,  showing 
that  the  larger  portion  of  the  solids  are  material  other  than 
beef.  I  mav  state  here  that  D  represents  the  very  poorest 
quality,  E  a  fairly  good  article  and  F  a  standard  preparation, 
according  to  the  claims  of  the  manufacturers. 
Both  wine  and  extract  of  beef  vary  in  their  percentage 
composition.  According  to  Hager,  extract  of  beef  contains 
19-22  per  cent,  of  moisture,  leaves  15-22  per  cent,  of  an 
ash  containing  27-37  per  cent,  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  yields 
6-8 "5  per  cent,  of  nitrogen.  Wine,  according  to  the  same 
authority,  yields  ordinarily  1*5-5  Per  cent,  extractive,  '2-4  per 
cent,  of  ash  and  -oi5--o6o  of  phosphoric  acid.  This  variation 
occurs  not  only  between  different  brands,  but  between  differ- 
ent lots  of  the  same  brand,  depending  in  extract  of  beef  upon 
the  condition  of  the  source  and  process  of  manufacture,  while 
in  wine  we  have  the  additional  influence  of  age.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  is  impossible  to  make  any  accurate  deduc- 
tions. The  most  reliable  indications  are  afforded  by  the 
estimation  of  nitrogen  and  ash,  and  the  percentage  of  these 
decreases  as  precipitation  in  the  preparation  continues,  i.  c,  as 
it  becomes  older. 
Phosphates  are  readily  precipitated  by  alcohol,  and,  besides, 
both  wine  and  extract  show  a  fairly  wide  range  of  variation 
in  them,  so  that  their  estimation  seems  of  no  particular 
value. 
Precipitation  bv  alcohol  yields  no  better  indication  than  the 
