Am.  Joar.  Pharm.  i 
Marcii,  1S98.  / 
Diastatic  Fungi. 
137 
rhizin,  and  set  aside  over  night  in  a  cool  place.  Pour  off  the  liquid 
through  a  filter  and  wash  the  glycyrrhizin  three  times  with  ice-cold 
water  by  decanting.  One  drop  of  concentrated  ammonia  water  is 
added  to  neutralize  any  acid  remaining.  The  drying  is  carried  out 
in  a  water  oven  to  constant  weight. 
(6)  Saccharine  Matter. — The  liquid  decanted  from  the  precipi- 
tated glycyrrhizin  is  neutralized  with  barium  hydrate  and  the 
formed  barium  sulphate  separated  by  filtration.  The  amount  of 
saccharine  matter  in  the  filtrate  is  determined  with  Fehling's  solu- 
tion. 
(7)  Extractive  Substance. — The  balance  which  remains  by  addi- 
tion of  the  percentages  of  water,  mineral  matter,  insoluble  substance, 
gummy  matter,  glycyrrhizin  and  saccharine  matter,  and  subtract- 
ing from  100,  will  give  the  amount  of  extractive  substance. 
Philadelphia,  January,  1898. 
DIASTATIC  FUNGI  AND  THEIR  UTILIZATION. 
By  Jokichi  Takamtne. 
Up  to  the  present  time  the  germination  of  cereals  has  been  the 
only  source  of  diastase  of  any  practical  importance  known  in 
America  and  Europe.  It  is  true  that  there  is  diastase  of  animal 
origin,  such  as  ptyalin  and  pancreatic  diastase,  but  their  sources  are 
limited  and  their  potency  unstable.  Therefore  they  are  compara- 
tively of  less  importance  than  the  vegetable  diastase,  which  has  an 
inexhaustible  supply  of  raw  materials  of  uniform  power.  In  Japan,  and 
some  other  Asiatic  countries,  certain  kinds  of  fungi  are  used  in  the 
production  of  diastase.  The  fungus  that  is  in  use  in  Japan  is  called 
Moyashi,  which  was  named  by  Ahlburg  Eurotium  Oryzae.  It 
belongs  to  the  genus  Aspergillus,  and  is  distinguished  from  ordi- 
nary fungus  by  its  remarkable  power  of  generating  diastase  during 
its  growth.  It  is  a  perfectly  harmless  plant,  as  proven  by  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  used  in  Japan  for  several  centuries  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  the  various  daily  beverages.  The  accompanying  micro- 
photograph  shows  the  form  of  its  beautiful  growth.  Further  study 
has  shown  that  a  good  many  other  fungi  have,  to  a  more  or  less 
degree,  a  similar  property,  and  naturally,  therefore,  the  selection  of 
the  species  which  has  the  strongest  diastase  generating  power  becomes 
of  technical  importance.    This  selection  is  determined  by  the  culture, 
