324 
Notes  on  Pepsin. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     July  1,  1873. 
and  the  reaction  will  show  it  ;  hence  proving  that  pepsin  must  have 
been  present  in  order  to  its  production. 
I  have  repeatedly  dissolved  a  perfectly  good  pepsin  in  sherry  wine, 
added  chlorhydric  acid  and  albumen,  and  submitted  to  a  water-bath 
and  then  tested  for  peptone  ;  but  in  no  case  have  I  been  able  to  de- 
tect it.  From  this  fact,  I  conclude  that  pepsin  wines  are  useless,  as 
far  as  the  drug  is  concerned,  and  that  the  presence  of  the  alcohol,  or 
the  small  proportion  of  tannin,  or  both,  destroys  its  catalytic  action* 
Tannin,  in  solution,  does  the  same  thing.  So,  also,  do  most  metal- 
lic salts  ;  and  here  I  would  quote  from  Dr.  T.  King  Chambers  "  On 
the  Indigestions,"  page  94  :— "  But  for  the  time  named,  I  advise  its 
being  given  alone,  and  the  action  not  interfered  with  in  general  by 
other  medicines.  Many  will  really  prevent  its  chemical  effect,  and 
all  will  confuse  one's  judgment  of  the  advantage  gained." 
But,  if  to  a  peptone  already  formed,  either  wine,  alcohol,  tannin, 
or  a  metallic  salt  is  added,  the  addition  of  the  test  will  at  once  ex~ 
hibit  its  reaction,  though  tannin,  if  in  large  quantity,  somewhat  masks 
it.  From  this,  it  appears  that  the  failure  of  the  test  to  indicate  pep- 
sin in  wine  or  dilute  alcohol,  or  in  the  presence  of  tannin,  or  a  me- 
tallic salt,  does  not  result  from  the  action  being  masked,  but  from  the 
fact  of  the  pepsin  (under  the  conditions)  being  inert. 
If,  then,  these  elegant  pseudo-pharmaceutical  preparations  will  not 
accomplish  the  conversion  of  a  protein  substance  into  a  peptone  in 
the  test  tube,  there  is,  I  think,  small  likelihood  of  their  doing  so  in 
the  disabled  stomach.  It  is  true  the  other  ingredients  may  be  of 
service,  but  often  it  is  the  pepsin  that  the  physician  is  prescribing 
the  compound  for,  and  frequently  the  one  thing  the  patient  most  re- 
quires ;  so  that,  if  the  above  conclusions  are  true,  then,  indeed,  are 
physicians  laboring  in  the  dark,  and  their  patients  done  out  of  their 
health  and  their  money. 
Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  tried  samples  of  Dr.  Hawley's 
preparation,  and  find  that  his  wine  and  glycerole  of  pepsin  are  good 
articles,  but  the  wine  does  not  appear  to  be  a  pure  sherry,  and  the 
proportion  of  alcohol  so  small  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  functions 
of  the  principle.  They  both  will  dissolve  albumen,  but  not  so  actively 
as  Scheffer's. 
I  give  these  few  facts  for  what  they  are  worth,  and  hope  at  least 
they  may  be  of  some  service  to  the  profession,  especially  to  those  who 
have  not  the  time  for  making  the  investigations  they  otherwise  would 
