Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ") 
Sept.  1, 1871.  J 
Use  of  Osseine  in  Alimentation. 
419 
as  he  had  purposed,  and  the  animal,  not  receiving  any  nourishment, 
died  at  the  end  of  four  days.  Remarks  are  made  on  the  roasting  of 
coffee.  It  should  be  so  accomplished,  that  it  shall  contain  all  the 
caffeine,  the  true  active  principle  of  the  berry,  and  should  not  contain 
caffeone,  an  essential  oil  developed  in  roasting.  This  latter  principle 
the  author  asserts  is  the  one  which  excites  and  causes  the  injurious 
effects  so  often  found  to  arise  from  the  use  of  coffee.  Its  formation 
may  be  to  a  considerable  extent  prevented  by  roasting  the  coffee  in  a 
current  of  heated  air. 
A  discussion  on  the  subject  followed,  in  which  it  was  questioned 
whether  coffee  and  cacao  were  to  be  considered  as  aliments,  M.  Chev- 
reul  expressing  his  belief  that  personal  idiosyncracies  had  much  to  do 
with  it.  He  also  remarks  on  the  difficulty  of  settling  the  question, 
for  want  of  a  standard  by  which  to  be  guided,  as,  for  instance,  the 
percentage  of  nitrogen,  which,  however,  is  fallacious. — American 
Chemist^  July^  1871,  from  Comptes  Rendus, 
USE  OF  OSSEINE  IN  ALIMENTATION. 
By  M.  E.  Fremy. 
The  author  discusses  the  question,  whether  osseine  is  a  nutritive 
substance,  which  he  considers  has  been  decided  affirmatively.  He 
then  describes  the  preparation — the  chemicals  which  are  to  be  applied 
with  the  greatest  advantage ;  the  cooking  and  the  flavoring  of  the 
substance.  He  concludes  by  saying,  1st,  that  bones  furnish  nutri- 
ment under  two  forms — gelatine  and  osseine.  2d,  the  osseine  should 
be  prepared  from  bones  well  cleansed  and  freed  from  grease.  3d,  in 
cooking,  osseine  changes  to  gelatine  under  the  prolonged  action  of 
boiling  water,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  fibrous  tissue  of  meat.  4th, 
gelatine  is  at  present  undeservedly  in  disfavor  on  account  of  the  pre- 
judices of  the  commission  who  have  recently  been  appointed  to  exam- 
ine into  its  claims  to  being  a  nutritious  article.  A  discussion  on  the 
subject  follows,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  the  commission  on  gelatine 
had  decided  that  it  was  a  modified  form  of  animal  product,  and  in  so 
far  as  modified,  was  non -nutritious. — American  Chemist^  July^  18'^ Ij 
from  Comptes  Rendus. 
