Putzeys' apparatus, therefore, with a much less discharge of water, is capable of producing an effect superior to that of similar apparatus. On account of its simplicity and plain character, there is no need of precision in the installation of this apparatus, and horizontality, even, is not a sine qua non for its perfect operation.
The siphon is very easily cleaned, and this is a great advantage, since it permits of utilizing sewage matter for filling the flushing reservoir.—Chronique Industrielle.
PEPSIN.
By A. Percy Smith, F.I.C., F.C.S., Rugby.
The method usually adopted for estimating the peptonizing power of pepsina porci consists in dissolving 1 to 2 grains in 8 to 12 ounces of water, to which 40 to 60 minims of hydrochloric acid has been added. 500 to 1,000 grains of hard-boiled white of egg, granulated by rubbing through a wire sieve, is immersed in the liquid, and the whole kept at 98° to 130° F. for four hours, when the undissolved albumen is filtered off through muslin, and, after partial drying, is weighed to ascertain the amount dissolved. The variable numbers above quoted embrace various formulæ recommended by different experimenters.
This method of analysis is excessively crude and untrustworthy. When hard-boiled white of egg is kept in warm water, it absorbs a considerable quantity of that menstruum, as much as several units per cent.; consequently, on weighing the residual albumen, you may find that the weight is greater instead of less than that with which you started, the gain in weight due to absorbed water more than counterbalancing the loss obtaining through solution, as has happened with indifferent samples of pepsin. Then who shall say when, by simple air drying, the albumen has regained its former condition? The enormous quantity of albumen is foreign to the usual habits of the scientific analyst, and involves an enormous waste of time in manipulation.
One trial of this method was enough for me. The first modification I adopted consisted in substituting for the large quantity of granulated albumen a single half of the white of an egg in one piece. I likewise arranged a check experiment in which the pepsin was omitted, other conditions remaining unaltered. At the end of four hours the residual pieces of albumen were placed on blotting paper to remove superfluous moisture, and weighed. The gain in weight of the albumen in the check experiment, due to absorbed water, was calculated into percentage, and the same deducted from the weights of the other portions which had been subjected to the action of various pepsins. This, although an improvement upon the old method, proved likewise unreliable, because the water absorbed was not equal in each experiment. The albumen which was immersed in acidulated water only quickly dried, superficially, when placed on blotting paper, whereas that which had been acted on by pepsin was rendered glutinous and incapable of being dried in this manner. In fact, one sample weighed considerably more than it did at starting, even after deducting the allowance for water absorbed.
I next tried much smaller pieces of albumen, about 1 c.c., in hope that complete solution might ensue, and a time value be obtained. I soon found, however, that the solubility does not depend upon the mass, but upon the surface exposed.
Finally I discarded altogether the use of fresh white of egg, and had recourse to dry powdered albumen, prepared by drying in a steam oven and levigation in a mortar. With this I succeeded in getting accurate comparisons between the digestive powers of various pepsins. Albumen in this form dissolves with rapidity, owing to its state of fine division. Any remaining undissolved can be filtered off on a counterpoised filter paper, and heated in a water oven until absolutely dry. It is, however, unnecessary to do this when two samples only are compared against each other, nor is it essential to know the actual weight of albumen employed, provided it be the same in each experiment. This is insured by placing some on the naked pan of the balance (there is no objection to so doing, as it is a dry gritty powder, and does not adhere to the metal), and counterpoising by a similar addition to the other pan.