ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  LIQUID  PEPSIN.  101 
At  the  end  of  the  process  the  undissolved  albumen  was  taken 
out,  washed  and  dried  from  adhering  water  on  bibulous  paper, 
and  then  weighed. 
A.  had  lost  twenty-four  grains. 
B.  had  lost  twenty-seven  grains. 
That  in  these  two  cases  a  solution  of  albumen  had  taken  place 
was  plainly  seen,  as  the  remaining  albumen  was  quite  soft  and 
by  the  least  pressure  formed  a  pulpy  mass. 
Houghton  s  Dry  Pepsin — made  from  calf  rennet. 
a.  One  drachm  of  Pepsin,  one  fluid-ounce  of  water,  and  one 
drachm  of  coagulated  albumen. 
/9.  One  drachm  of  Pepsin,  one  fluid-ounce  of  water,  fifteen 
drops  of  muriatic  acid  and  one  drachm  of  coagulated  albumen. 
At  the  end  of  the  process, 
a  had  lost  nothing ;  the  consistence  of  the  albumen  was 
about  the  same  as  before  it  was  put  into  the  solution. 
^  had  lost  ten  grains. 
The  remaining  albumen  was  somewhat  softer  but  not  as  pulpy 
as  by  the  French  Pepsin. 
Hawleys  Liquid  Pepsin.  Of  one  and  a  half  drachms  of  coagu- 
lated albumen,  which  were  put  to  one  fluid-ounce  of  this  prepa- 
ration, at  the  end  of  the  process  one  drachm  and  ten  grains  were 
undissolved,  but  it  showed  itself  considerably  softened. 
According  to  these  experiments,  one  fluid-ounce  of  liquid  Pep- 
sin would  be  equal  in  strength  to  one  drachm  and  forty  grains  of 
Boudault's  French  Pepsin,  to  nine  drachms  of  Houghton's  dry 
Pepsin,  and  to  four  and  a  half  fluid-ounces  of  Hawley's  liquid 
Pepsin. 
The  various  wines  which  were  tested  cannot  be  classified  with 
the  Pepsin  preparations,  as  they  evidently  contain  no  Pepsin. 
So  far  the  experiments  about  my  preparation  proved  satisfac- 
tory, but  the  question  had  to  be  answered  yet,  if  in  course  of 
time,  particularly  in  warm  weather,  the  liquid  Pepsin  does  not 
undergo  any  decomposition  and  thereby  lose  some  of  its  medi- 
cal virtue  ?  To  find  this  out,  a  vial  with  liquid  Pepsin  was 
placed  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  warm  stove  for  five  weeks  and 
then  examined  again.    The  external  appearance  was  entirely 
