444 
Peptone  in  the  Animal  Body. 
f  Am,  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      Sept.,  1883. 
density  of  1*30,  of  an  agreeable  honey  odor  and  in  a  stratum  of  20mm. 
(|-  inch),  of  a  yellow  or  slightly  brownish  color.  When  mixed  with 
an  equal  part  of  ammonia  water  the  color  should  not  be  altered  (absence 
of  foreign  coloring  matters);  with  two  parts  of  alcohol  no  turbidity 
should  be  produced  (absence  of  dextrin) ;  diluted  with  4  parts  of  dis- 
tilled water,  the  liquid  should  be  clear  and  neutral  and  should  become 
merely  opalescent  with  silver  nitrate  or  barium  nitrate  (absence  of 
molasses  and  glucose,  which  contain  chlorides  or  sulphates). 
Mel  Rosoe,  U.  S.  Mel  rosatum,  P.  G. — Percolate  red  rose  petals  8 
parts  with  diluted  alcohol ;  reserve  the  first  3  parts  of  the  tincture ; 
evaporate  the  remainder  to  5  parts  and  mix  the  whole  with  clarified 
honey  92  parts.  U.  S. — Macerate  for  a  day  pale  rose  petals  1  part 
with  water  6  parts,  express,  evaporate  to  a  syrupy  consistence,  add  5 
times  the  weight  of  alcohol,  filter,  add  honey  10  parts  and  evaporate  to 
10  parts.    P.  G. 
DISTEIBUTION  OF  PEPTONE  IN  THE  ANIMAL  BODY. 
By  F.  Hofmeister. 
Nothing  has  as  yet  been  accurately  determined  in  regard  to  the  way 
in  which  nitrogenous  nutritive  principles  absorbed  from  the  alimentary 
tract  are  disposed  of  in  the  system. 
Peptone  has  always  been  looked  upon  with  special  interest  amongst 
the  products  of  the  digestion  of  albumin,  and  Schmidt  and  Miilheim 
(■^Du  Bois  Reymond's  Archiv  fiir  Physiol.,''  1879,  39)  have  estab- 
lished by  their  observations  the  fact  of  the  transformation  in  chief  part 
of  albumin  into  this  body.  It  has  generally  been  believed  that  pep- 
tone, being  relatively  of  easy  difiusibility,  passes  through  the  alimen- 
tary mucous  membrane  into  the  blood-vessels,  and  is  then  carried  to 
the  place  of  its  assimilation.  Support  to  this  view  was  given  by  the 
observations  of  Drosdoff  and  Plosz  and  Gyergyai,  who  found  peptone 
in  the  blood  of  the  portal  vein.  The  quantity  was,  however,  very 
small.  Two  different  modes  of  explanation  of  these  facts  present 
themselves :  either  very  little  unchanged  peptone  reaches  the  blood 
through  the  intestinal  mucous  layer,  or  the  peptone  undergoes  trans- 
formation immediately  after  its  passage,  losing  its  own  characteristic 
properties,  and  so  ceasing  to  be  recognizable.  The  latter  view  has 
hitherto  been  chiefly  adfipted,  some  observers  ascribing  the  place  of 
change  to  the  muscular  tissue,  and  especially  to  the  liver  and  other 
