168  Glycerin  Extracts  of  Pepsin,  etc.      { ^  Aprin;  m^*" ' 
thetic  in  place  of  chloroform.  First  used  by  English  physicians  in 
form  of  ointment  for  exanthema  ;  used  by  Lichtfield  in  porrigo  and 
lepra ;  by  Glover  for  psoriasis,  impetigo,  scabies,  etc. ;  also  recom- 
mended for  croup  (internally),  and  used  with  good  success  [Monthly/ 
Journal,  Feb.,  1848).  On  the  recommendation  of  Moretin  and  Mou- 
zard  (V  Union^  1857),  used  as  a  local  anaesthetic,  in  the  form  of  sup- 
positories, in  the  prostate ;  it  also  seems  to  relieve  tenesmus,  easing 
defecation. 
Iodoform  has  lately  been  prominently  brought  to  the  notice  of  phy- 
sicians in  this  country  as  a  remedy  for  chronic  ulcers  (Proc.  Penn. 
State  Med.  Soc,  1868),  obstinate  neuralgia,  scrofula,  strumous  op- 
thalmia,  consumption,  and  even  in  cancer  is  stated  to  have  relieved 
the  excruciating  pain  of  this  malignant  disease,  without  seeming  to 
arrest  the  same  {Med.  and  Surg.  Rep.,  Phil.,  Vol.  16,  17,  18).  It  is 
also  a  valuable  dressing  in  chancre. 
It  is  best  administered  in  pill  form,  one  to  two  grains,  three  times  a 
day.  Quevenne,s  iron  may  often  be  advantageously  added.  Exter- 
nally it  is  used  as  an  ointment,  one-half  to  one  dram  of  iodoform  to 
one  ounce  of  lard,  or  it  is  dissolved  in  hot  alcohol,  and  glycerin 
added:  these  to  be  used^j>ro  re  nata. —  The  Pharmacist,  January, 
1871, /rom  Detroit  Rev.  of  Medicine. 
GLYCERINE  EXTRACTS  OF  PEPSINE  AND  OTHER  FERMENTS. 
Mr.  M.  Foster  reports,  in  Nature,  the  result  of  a  repetition  of 
some  experiments,  published  a  short  time  ago  by  Yon  Wittich  in  Pflu- 
gers  Archiv,  upon  the  isolation  of  pepsine  and  other  so-called  fer- 
ments by  means  of  concentrated  glycerine. 
After  washing  the  mucous  membrane  of  a  pig's  stomach,  it  w^as 
freed  as  much  as  possible  from  water,  minced,  bruised,  and  covered 
with  pure  glycerine.  Having  stood  twenty-four  hours,  a  few  drops 
of  the  glycerine,  diluted  with  acidulated  water,  digested  fibrin  rapidly. 
This  process  was  repeated  four  times,  each  resulting  extract  manifest- 
ing strong  peptic  powers.  Treated,  after  filtration,  with  an  excess  of 
alcohol,  these  extracts  gave  a  slight  precipitate,  which,  separated  by 
filtration  and  redissolved  in  acidulated  water,  was  strongly  peptic. 
Salivary  gland  and  pancreas  yielded  to  glycerine  a  starch-convert- 
ing ferment,  and  a  "laden"  pancreas  gave  a  ferment  digesting  fibrin 
in  an  alkaline  medium.  Ungerminated  barley  gave  up  a  non-proteid 
diastase;  almonds  a  ferment  acting  on  amygdalin. 
