3€fb 
On  Butter. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t     Aug.  1, 1873. 
Into  each  of  four  vials  100  grains  of  coagulated  albumen,  10  drops 
dilute  hydrochloric  acid,  and  10  drachms  of  water  were  placed ;  to 
the  first  10  grains  of  the  dried  mucus,  to  the  second  80  grains  of  the 
moist  (it  requires  this  quantity  to  produce  10  grains  of  the  dry),  to 
the  third  10  grains  of  the  purified  saccharated,  to  the  fourth  10  grains 
of  the  same,  and  two  drachms  of  the  water  were  replaced  by  sherry 
wine.  After  twelve  hours'  digestion,  at  a  temperature  of  100°,  the 
results  were  as  follows : 
No.  1  left  undissolved  81  grs. 
u  2   u      \    "        99  <• 
a    3    tt  t<  12  '< 
a    4    a  a  £2  " 
From  this  we  learn  that  undried  mucus  is  more  active  than  the  same 
substance  after  drying  ;  that  the  pure  pepsin  diffused  through  sugar 
of  milk  is  more  active  than  the  mucus  from  which  it  is  obtained  ;  and 
finally,  prove  the  truth  of  the  statement  before  made,  that  wine  par.- 
tiully  destroys  the  activity  of  pepsin  and  is  an  unsuitable  vehicle  for 
its  administration. 
I  propose,  therefore,  to  substitute  for  pepsin  wine  an  elixir,  made 
by  dissolving  the  purified  moist  pepsin  in  raspberry  vinegar,  so  that 
one  fluid  drachm  shall  be  capable  of  dissolving  100  grains  of  coagu- 
lated albumen.  This  keeps  well,  and  is  perfectly  palatable. — Pharm. 
Journ.,  (London),  July  2,  1873. 
ON  BUTTER* 
By  J.  Campbell  Brown.  D.  Sc.  (Lond.)  F.  C.  S., 
Lecturer  on  Chemistry  and  Toxicology  at  the  Liverpool  School  of  Medicine, 
Public  Analyst  for  Liverpool,  Cheshire  and  the  Isle  of  Man. 
Definition  of  Butter. — Pure  butter  is  a  fat  which  has  passed  through 
the  udder  of  a  cow  or  other  animal  as  one  of  the  constituents  of  milk, 
and  which  has  not  been  decomposed,  by  keeping  or  otherwise,  into 
fatty  acids  or  glycerin. 
In  milk  and  cream,  the  fat  is  all  contained  in  minute  round  glob- 
ules, and  butter  appears,  under  the  microscope,  full  of  these  globules. 
Chemically,  it  consists  of  a  mixture  of  neutral  fats,  the  glycerides  of 
the  non-volatile  acids,  palmitinic  acid  (C16H3202),  and  butyroleic  acid 
(C12H30O2) ;  and  the  glycerides  of  the  volatile  acids,  butyric  acid  (C4 
*Froin  the  "Liverpool  and  Manchester  Medical  and  Surgical  Reports,  1873." 
Communicated  by  the  Author. 
