594 
Cane  Sugar  in  Official  Syrups. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
X  December.  1898. 
cose  tests,  such  as  the  alkaline  bismuth  and  safranin  tests,  also 
react,  the  picric  acid  reaction  being  an  exception. 
Samples  of  syrups  of  acacia,  prepared  as  follows,  have  these  per- 
centages: 
No.  i,  U.S.P.  syrup,  nearly  four  months  old,  examined  in  I 
per  cent,  solution  by  volume,  showed  4  per  cent,  inverted  sugar. 
No.  2,  a  sample  prepared  from  granulated  gum,  heat  being 
employed  in  its  preparation,  contained  3-5  per  cent,  of  inverted 
sugar  in  100  c.c.  of  syrup  after  standing  three  months. 
No.  3,  a  syrup  prepared  from  powdered  gum  showed  4-5  per  cent, 
in  100  c.c.  after  four  months. 
The  sugar  and  syrup  used  in  these  preparations  gave  but  a  feeble 
reaction  with  Fehling's  solution. 
NON-ACID  SYRUPS. 
Examination  of  this  group  was  undertaken  to  determine  the 
question,  if  syrups,  containing  no  free  acids  and  standing  the  same 
length  of  time  as  acid  syrups,  may  not  eventually  also  show  the 
presence  of  considerable  amounts  of  inverted  sugar.  Various  cir- 
cumstances necessarily  occurring  during  the  preparation  and  keep- 
ing of  such  syrups,  as  the  influence  of  direct  or  summer  heat,  or 
fermentation,  render  such  a  condition  possible. 
But  while  some  do  undoubtedly  contain  small  amounts  of  inverted 
sugar,  in  no  case  was  the  percentage  found  as  large  as  in  the  acid 
syrups  of  either  group. 
Even  in  comparison  with  the  weakest  of  the  latter,  syrup  of  ipe- 
cacuanha, none  was  found  to  even  approximately  reach  its  percent- 
age of  inverted  sugar. 
The  following  groups  were  examined,  several  specimens  of  each 
in  a  number  of  instances. 
Syrup  of  althaea.  The  syrup,  prepared  by  a  method  in  which 
the  mucilage  was  removed,  possessed,  after  five  months,  practically 
no  reducing  action  upon  Fehling's  solution. 
Examination  of  several  specimens,  prepared  by  other  methods, 
gave  similar  results. 
Syrup  of  senega,  several  months  old,  examined  in  diluted  form, 
showed  an  almost  complete  absence  of  inverted  sugar. 
In  examining  this  syrup  in  diluted  form  with  Fehling's  solution, 
