Am.  Jour.  Pharm,  ) 
September,  1915.  j 
A  Medley. 
413 
April  9,  1 91 5. 
April  15,  1915 
May  6,  1915. . 
May  19,  1915. 
June  3,  1915.  • 
2.029%  1-905%  invert  sugar 
2.367%  2.354%  invert  sugar 
3.411%  3.566%  invert  sugar 
4.978%  4735%  invert  sugar 
6.586%  5-75i%  invert  sugar 
These  remarkable  results  not  only  disprove  the  statement  very 
frequently  made  that  in' making  syrupus  by  the  hot  process  much 
of  the  sugar  is  inverted,  a  statement  which  my  original  article  above 
referred  to  disproved,  but  they  also  conclusively  show  that  making 
the  samples  by  either  the  cold  or  hot  process  practically  no  inversion 
takes  place.  They  show  that,  upon  standing,  the  sugar  in  both 
samples  become  inverted,  the  inversion  being  greater  in  the  cold- 
process  syrup  than  in  that  where  heat  is  employed  in  the  manufacture. 
I  am  still  at  work  on  the  samples  and  hope  in  my  next  paper  on 
the  subject  to  report  further  results  of  the  investigation. 
Research  and  Analytical  Department,  Riker  Laboratories. 
Few  men  have  so  many  problems  and  difficulties  presented  to 
them  in  their  daily  work  as  does  the  pharmacist.  Accidents  happen, 
preparations  go  wrong,  materials  are  spoiled  or  rendered  unfit  for 
further  use,  by  what,  to  the  casual  observer,  would  seem  the  sheer 
perversity  of  the  things  themselves.  To  him  who  yields  without 
struggle  to  such  conditions,  life  is  but  "an  empty  dream."  To  him 
who,  by  the  application  of  some  almost  insignificant  bit  of  knowledge, 
conquers  them,  there  comes  the  wild  joy  of  wresting  from  an  apparent 
defeat  an  assured  victory. 
An  illustration  is  furnished  by  a  happening  of  a  few  months  ago. 
A  barrel  of  potassium  bicarbonate,  of  German  manufacture,  had 
been  on  hand  for  some  time.  It  was  lined  with  parchmentized 
paper.  Through  some  defect  in  the  manufacture  of  the  paper  or 
the  action  of  the  salt  upon  it,  the  paper  began  to  disintegrate.  The 
more  one  tried  tov separate  the  salt  and  the  paper  the  more  they  mixed. 
A  boy  was  put  to  work  spreading  it  on  a  table  and  picking  out  the 
1  Presented  at  the  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
Spring  Lake,  N.  J.,  June  15-18,  1915. 
A  MEDLEY.1 
By  George  M.  Beringer,  Jr.,  P.D. 
