2o8 
Ostrich  and  other  Pepsins, 
f  A.m.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      April,  1880.  ■ 
mass.  The  salts  are  readily  soluble  in  water,  alcohol  and  fatty  oils, 
and  are  insoluble  in  ether,  petroleum  naphtha,  benzol,  etc.  With  tan- 
nic acid  emetia  forms  an  amorphous  white  pulverulent  precipitate, 
almost  insoluble  in  water  ;  its  compounds  with  gallic  and  other  acids 
are  readily  soluble  in  water.  All  salts  soon  become  yellow  when 
exposed  to  light,  except  the  tannate,  which  remains  unaltered.  When 
treated  with  concentrated  sulphuric  (nitric  ?  Edit.)  acid,  emetia  yields 
oxalic  acid,  as  has  been  observed  by  former  authors  ;  when  treated  with 
dilute  sulphuric  acid  in  a  closed  tube  for  three  hours  at  150^0.  it  is 
transformed  partially  into  a  blackish  brown,  not  bitter,  substance,  and 
partially  remains  unaltered.  With  all  reagents  for  alkaloids  emetia 
yields  amorphous  precipitates.  Concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  poured  on 
pure  emetia  does  not  alter  it.  One  drop  of  a  freshly  prepared  solution 
of  sodium  phosphomolybdate  in  concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  when 
added  to  a  small  particle  of  emetia,  colors  it  brown  \  this  color  is  imme- 
diately changed  to  an  intense  indigo  color  on  the  addition  of  one  drop 
of  concentrated  hydrochloric  acid. 
OSTRICH  AND  OTHER  PEPSINS. 
By  I.  R.  James. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy  Students'  Association 
(London),  held  Feb.  12,  the  author  read  a  paper  on  the  above  subject, 
in  which  he  alluded  to  the  attention  attracted  by  the  pepsin  obtained 
from  the  stomach  of  the  South  American  ostrich,  R.hea  americana  and 
Rhea  Darw'in'ii.  After  giving  a  brief  history  of  these  birds  the  author 
refers  to  ingluvin  prepared  from  the  gizzard  of  the  chicken,  and  which 
has  been  said  to  be  superior  to  pepsin  as  a  remedy  for  feeble,  painful 
and  imperfect  digestion.  Obtaining  some  of  this  preparation  from  the 
agents,  the  following  experiments  were  made  : 
Fresh  eggs  were  kept  in  boiling  water  for  one  hour  and  then  allowed 
to  get  quite  cold  ;  after  depriving  them  of  their  shells  the  whites  were 
cut  into  the  thinnest  possible  slices — not  minced,  as  it  is  easier  to 
observe  the  progress  of  the  digestion  of  albumen  if  it  be  sliced  than  if 
it  be  minced — and  care  was  taken  to  reject  any  portion  of  yolk.  Fifty 
grains  of  coagulated  albumen  thus  prepared  was  placed  in  each  wide 
mouthed  bottle  and  covered  with  5  drachms  of  distilled  water  contain- 
ing I  per  cent,  of  hydrochloric  acid,  sp.  gr.  I*i6.  The  quantity  o 
pepsin  was  then  weighed  out  and  added  to  the  mixture  of  albumen  and 
