Am.  Jour.  Pharm  ) 
July  1,  187:}.  j 
Notes  on  Pepsin. 
323 
But  on  looking  over  a  review  of  the  new  Pharmacopoeia,  in  the 
Journal  of  March  13th,  I  noticed  the  mention  of  the  pepsin  made 
by  Scheffer,  of  Louisville,  and  being  anxious,  if  possible,  to  find  a 
reliable  article,  I  wrote  to  him  for  a  sample,  and  received  foy  mail 
two  descriptions — "  saccharated  pepsin,"  and  u  concentrated  pep- 
sin." I  at  once  experimented  with  them,  and  obtained  most  ex- 
cellent results.  With  one  grain  of  the  concentrated  article,  I  ob- 
tained the  solution  of  one  hundred  grains  of  coagulated  albumen, 
and  with  five  grains  of  the  saccharated,  sixty  grains  of  albumen — 
in  each  case  using  one  ounce  of  water  and  six  drops  of  muriatic 
Bcid.  With  one  grain,  also,  of  the  former,  I  procured  the  solution 
of  137  grains  of  raw,  lean  beef. 
These  results  are,  I  think,  eminently  satisfactory,  and  prove,  at 
least,  that  there  is  one  reliable  article  to  be  had — of  home  manufac- 
ture, also,  instead  of  heavily  dutied  foreign  goods,  and  which  so  fre- 
quently are  considered  the  only  reliable  preparations. 
I  have  been  sceptical  as  to  the  therapeutic  value  of  the  so  called 
pepsin  wines  and  elixirs,  and  my  experiments  have  proved  that,  at 
all  events,  the  pepsin  used  in  their  manufacture  is  not  of  any  use. 
for  there  is  no  solvent  action  exerted  whatever  on  coagulated  albu- 
men by  any  of  them  I  have  yet  tried. 
This  may  be  the  proper  place  to  describe  the  method  I  adopt  for 
detecting  the  presence  of  what  I  will  call  active  pepsin. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  presence  of  albumen  in  diabetic  urine  is 
van  obstacle  to  the  detection  of  the  sugar,  and  that  a  fine  mauve  or 
purple  color  is  produced  on  the  addition  of  either  Trommer's  or  Feh- 
ling's  test  solution.  It  occurred  to  me  that  this  reaction  would  just 
•come  in  for  my  purpose.  Take  coagulated  albumen,  and  put  into 
the  pepsin  wine  or  elixir  ;  submit  to  one  hundred  degrees  Fahr.  in  a 
water-bath,  and  if  there  is  any  of  the  active  peptic  principle  present, 
-solution  of  so  much  of  the  coagulum  will  ensue,  and  the  albumen  re- 
duced to  an  allotropic  condition,  which,  when  added  to  the  test  solu- 
tion, would  produce  the  purple  color. 
On  trying  the  experiment,  no  such  thing  occurred;  but,  on  making 
a  simple  solution  of  pepsin  in  water,  adding  acid  and  albumen,  and 
digesting  for  half  an  hour,  I  procured  a  solution  which,  on  addition 
-of  the  cupreous  test,  at  once  yielded  the  splendid  color  ;  repeated 
trials  have  yielded  the  same^results.  Flesh,  or  cheese,  may  be  used 
in  place  of  albumen,  as  all]  that  is  required  is  to  obtain  a  peptone. 
