4m,  lour.  Pharm.  ) 
Feb  ,  1879.  / 
Researches  on  Peptones. 
101 
Approximately,  then,  100  heads  of  clover  yield  o*g  gram  sugar,  or  125  give  1 
gram,  or  125,060  1  kilo  of  sugar  5  and  as  each  head  contains  about  60  florets, 
7,500,000  distinct  flower  tubes  must  be  sucked  in  order  to  obtain  1  kilo,  of  sugar. 
Now  as  honey,  roughly,  may  be  said  to  contain  75  per  cent,  of  sugar,  we  have  1 
'kilo  equivalent  to  5,600,000  flowers  in  round  numbers,  or  say  2^  millions  of  visits 
for  one  pound  of  honey.  This  shows  what  an  amazing  amount  of  labor  the  bees 
must  perform.  Another  point  worth  notice  in  these  results  is  the  occurrence  of 
what  appears  to  be  cane-sugar,  and  in  the  case  of  fuchsia  in  the  proportion  of  nearly 
tthree-fourths  of  the  whole.  This  is  remarkable,  as  honey  is  usually  supposed  to 
contain  no  cane  sugar,  the  presence  of  the  latter  being  usually  regarded  as  certain 
evidence  of  adulteration.  The  question  therefore  arises  whether  this  change,  which 
takes  place  while  the  sugar  is  in  the  possession  of  the  bee,  is  due  to  the  action 
of  juices  with  which  it  comes  in  contact  while  in  the  honey-bag  or  expanded 
-oesophagus  of  the  insect,  or  whether  the  process  of  inversion  goes  on  spontane- 
ously, as  may  perhaps  be  the  case. — Jour.  Chem.  Soc  ,  Dec,  1878,  from  Chem. 
News,  xxxviii,  p.  93. 
RESEARCHES  ON  PEPTONES. 
By  A.  Henninger. 
Peptones,  the  ultimate  products  of  peptic  digestion,  have  hitherto  been  found  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  in  a  state  of  purity,  owing  to  their  tendency  to  retain  mineral  salts  or 
bases,  and  have  yielded  on  incineration  from  3  to  7  per  cent,  of  ash.  Maly  obtained 
a  fibrin-peptone,  which  yielded  only  C64  per  cent,  of  ash,  by  separating  the  mineral 
substances  by  diffusion.  The  author  proposed  to  attain  the  same  end,  by  starting 
with  albuminoids  free  from  mineral  matter,  and  using  subsequently  only  such  reagents 
as  could  be  completely  removed  by  precipitation.  Substituting,  therefore,  sulphuric 
for  hydrochloric  acid,  he  found  the  process  required  two  or  three  times  as  long  for 
-completion,  but  the  acid  could  then  be  exactly  removed  by  baryta. 
The  pepsin  used  was  of  three  kinds — an  aqueous  solution  dialyzed  from  a  dog's 
gastric  juice,  a  glycerin  solution  obtained  by  Wittich's  method,  and  a  very  active 
•commercial  pepsin.  The  albuminoid  matters  were  free  from  mineral  matter,  as 
detailed  below. 
Fibrin. — The  substance,  after  having  been  soaked  in  water  containing  1  per  cent, 
of  hydrochloric  acid,  was  tied  up  in  a  cloth,  gently  expressed  and  hung  in  distilled 
water,  which  was  constantly  changed  5  the  mass  in  the  cloth  was  frequently  kneaded 
and  squeezed,  and  all  the  acid  and  the  salts  rendered  soluble  by  the  acid  were  thus 
removed  in  the  course  of  three  or  four  days.  The  gelatinous  mass  was  then  thrown 
-into  absolute  alcohol,  which  was  changed  several  times.  The  fibrin,  after  a  final 
prolonged  treatment  with  ether,  to  remove  fatty  matters,  did  not  yield  more  than 
0  29  per  cent,  of  ash. 
Albumin,  purified  by  dialysis,  yielded  only  0*48  per  cent,  of  mineral  matter. 
Casein. — Skimmed  milk  was  mixed  with  1-200  of  soda  solution  and  freed  from 
fat  by  four  successive  treatments  with  ether  5  the  product  was  then  partially  neutral- 
ized with  dilute  phosphoric  acid  and  mixed  with  a  little  hydrocyanic  acid  to  hinder 
putrefaction.  .  This  liquid  was  subjected  to  dialysis  for  twelve  days,  changing  the 
