534  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {Am'octu,ri89o.arm- 
with  one  part  by  weight  of  each  of  the  following  substances,  viz  :  0-92 
with  glycerin,  0-42  with  cane  sugar,  172  with  mannit,  and  1*05  with  egg 
albumin.  Of  the  latter,  one  part  requires  7^  to  S)4  parts  by  volume  of  dia- 
lyzed  iron  containing  5  percent.  Fe2o3.  In  all  these  cases  the  combination  is 
effected  only  while  the  ferric  hydrate  is  in  the  nascent  state,  since  freshly 
precipitated  ferric  hydrate  does  not  dissolve  in  a  solution  of  sugar  or.  similar 
substance.  The  author  then  dwells  upon  the  principal  characters  of  egg- 
albumin  and  of  its  derivatives  produced  by  the  influence  of  acids,  alkalies, 
coagulation  and  digestion,  all  of  which — peptone  excepted — are  precipitated 
from  their  solutions  by  sodium  chloride  or  sulphate,  or  by  magnesium  sulphate, 
while  peptone  is  precipitated  by  ammonium  sulphate.  Peptone  does  not,  like 
albumin,  form  a  chemical  compound  with  iron,  and  the  so-called  peptonates  of 
iron,  met  with  in  commerce,  usually  contain,  in  the  place  of  peptone,  coagu- 
lated albumin  dissolved  in  alkali ;  but  even  if  containing  peptone  (or  digested 
albumin)  the  preparation  would  be  simply  a  "  solution  of  peptone  and  iron." 
The  treatment  of  a  ferric  precipitate  and  albumin  or  similar  substance  with  an 
insufficient  amount  of  alkali  may  result,  instead  of  in  complete  solution,  in  the 
decomposition  of  the  compound,  the  solution  of  the  albumin  and  the  removal 
of  the  ferric  hydrate.  Solutions  of  basic  ferric  albuminate  may  be  more  simply 
made  by  mixing  specific  quantities  of  albumin  and  dialyzed  iron  in  admissibly 
diluted  solutions,  with  the  precaution  that  the  albumin  be  first  deprived  of  its 
alkalinity. 
In  answer  to  a  question  Dr.  Tsheppe  stated  that  on  taking  ferric  albuminate 
internally,  it  would  be  decomposed  by  the  free  acid  of  the  gastric  juice  ;  such 
preparations  are,  probably,  not  superior  to  most  other  liquid  preparations  of 
iron. 
Pepsin. — This  subject  was  treated  by  Dr.  Eccles,  of  Brooklyn,  in  two  lengthy 
papers,  one  of  them  being  entitled  "  What  is  Pepsin  ?"  The  author  states  that 
a  solution  of  pepsin  heated  to  boiling  becomes  milky,  the  precipitate  settling 
in  a  short  time  in  the  presence  of  a  little  free  HC1  ;  this  precipitate  is  stated  to 
be  always  in  exact  proportion  to  the  digestive  power  of  the  pepsin,  and  is 
called  by  the  author  peptose.  The  amount  of  such  peptose  is  proposed  by 
him  for  the  gravimetric  determination  of  pepsin.  In  regard  to  commercial 
pepsin  the  author  states  that  "if  we  define  dirt  as  matter  out  of  place,  it  might 
be  characterized  as  a  lot  of  dirt  with  a  trace  of  pepsin." 
In  the  second  paper  Dr.  Eccles  discusses  the  testing  of  pepsin  for  pharma- 
copceial  purposes  ;  while  he  believes  the  gravimetric  method  by  boiling  to  be 
the  most  exact  one,  he  thinks  that  it  should  be  more  thoroughly  tested.  For 
determining  the  digestive  power  of  pepsin,  he  recommends  that  albumin  of 
eggs  be  diluted  with  three  times  its  bulk  of  water,  the  mixture  strained  through 
muslin  or  cotton,  40  cc.  of  the  strained  mixture  to  be  boiled  for  ten  minutes, 
and  the  liquid  then  diluted  to  50  cc.  by  the  addition  of  water  and  the  requi- 
site amount  of  HC1.  The  mixture  has  the  appearance  of  an  emulsion  from  the 
finely  divided  coagulated  albumin  ;  it  is  digested  at  1090  F.  with  the  desirable 
quantity  of  the  pepsin  to  be  tested,  the  complete  solution  of  the  albumin  being 
indicated  by  the  change  of  the  mixture  in  appearance  from  opacity,  through 
translucence  and  slight  opalescence,  to  transparency. 
An  animated  discussion  followed  the  reading  of  these  papers,  and  some  of 
the  experiments  as  well  as  conclusions  arrived  at  were  strongly  criticised. 
