26 
Influence  of  Saccharin  upon  Ferments. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
Jan.,  1888. 
All  three  of  the  resins  behave  like  weak  acids ;  in  aqueous  solution 
they  are  very  instable  and  readily  decomposed.  The  solubility  of  the 
resins  in  water  is  not  constant,  but  if  a  quantity  of  resin  be  boiled  with 
successive  quantities  of  water  the  solubility  gradually  decreases. 
No.  2  resin  is  related  to  the  bitter  acid  of  hops  in  that  the  acid  is 
converted  by  oxidation  into  this  resin.  By  numerous  experiments  it 
was  ascertained  that  both  this  and  the  other  soft  resin,  which  appears 
not  to  have  any  relation  to  the  bitter  acid,  act  in  a  high  degree  upon 
the  lactic  acid  bacteria  as  antifermentatives.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
faintly  bitter  hard  resin,  which  is  contained  in  hops  in  larger  quantity, 
has  little  or  no  antiseptic  influence  upon  the  lactic  acid  bacteria.  All 
that  can  be  said  is  that  in  the  presence  of  this  resin  the  development 
of  the  lactic  acid  bacteria  goes  on  more  slowly  than  in  its  absence. 
Neither  of  the  resins  influences  the  growth  of  mould. 
The  different  bitter  constituents  of  hops  were  also  examined  as  to 
their  influence  upon  the  acetic  acid  bacteria,  and  it  was  found  that  the 
development  of  these  organisms  was  not  retarded  by  the  resins. 
THE  INFLUENCE  OF  SACCHARIN  UPON  THE  ACTION 
OF  SOME  FERMENTS. 
By  E.  J.  Millard. 
As  various  vao^ue  and  conflictina;  statements  have  been  made  as  to 
the  anti-fermentive  character  of  saccharin,  it  was  thought  worthy  of 
interest  to  ascertain  its  influence  upon  the  more  common  ferments, 
such  as  pepsin,  pancreatin,  diastase  and  paj^ain. 
In  all  experiments  a  saturated  aqueous  solution  of  saccharin,  con- 
taining about  0*2  per  cent.,  was  employed. 
Pepsin. — The  usual  B.  P.  test  proportions  were  taken,  one  experi- 
ment having  the  saturated  solution  of  saccharin  instead  of  distilled 
water.  Maintained  at  54°C.  for  twenty  minutes,  little  or  no  differ- 
ence was  observable  between  them,  in  each  case  the  albumin  having 
been  nearly  dissolved.  To  ascertain  the  exact  relationship,  they  were 
both  at  this  stage  filtered  on  tared  filters,  dried  and  weighed. 
The  albumin  w^ith  saccharin  solution  weighed  16  grains,  whilst  the 
normal  weighed  13  grains.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  saccharin  has 
very  little  retarding  influence  over  pepsin. 
Pancreatin. — The  eflect  of  saccharin  was  tried  both  with  pancreatin 
upon  casein,  and  also  upon  starch. 
