Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-12
A CURIOUS PRODUCT.
INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING
SACCt%AE9lN AND ITS USES.

The new sweet AAnu1hc1urco HonA CoeA
Tar-Used Now in Cake. Candy and
Cham xne-Whst an American Chem
list Seys-Medical Uses.
The curious product from coal tar
| known as saccharin was introduced by
| French chemist two years ago, SINCE
when q factory for its production has
been established in Westerhausen, near
! the old historic town of Magdeburg, IN
| Prussia. Saccharin has become 80 for
midable a rival of cane and beet root
sugar for many manufacturing purposes,
that the producers of these look upon the
new material with great disfavor. Late
| French papers state that the French
sugar manufacturers have begun a cam
paign against it, and the Society of Ag
riculturists have petitioned the govern
nnent to forbid its manufacture, as being
prejudicial to the beet root sugar trade,
although experiments have shown that
it is not noxious.
1t has been found that in its pure state
it is difficult of solution, but this defect
| is corrected by the addition of an aka
! portions to the saccharin mixed in the
water. No heat is employed, as under
the influence of heat soda will transform
saccharin into salicylic acid. Neither
flies. bees nor other insects will touch
saccharin in any form, but physicians
are already prescribing it for patients
afflicted with diseases which viii not
I Of thai <,t A
man to whom sugar was forbidden tried
saccharin, using it alone to sweeten
lemon juice and stewed cranberries He
found that it would not mix, and e1-
perimented with various things to rem
edy it, but was unsuccessful until he
thought of glycerire; one dram Of sac
charm with one pound of glycerine,
heated to solution, makes a mixture
closely resembling honey, and one that
readily dissolves in water, milk, tea,
coffee, wines and liquors.
ITS SwEETENING POWER
Saccharin is used now in cake, candy
and champagne. Its s~eetening power
is 800 times greater than that of sugar,
and it has neither the latter's nutritive
nor injurious properties 1t does not
ferment, and is in no way altered by the
action of yeast and other ferments In
addition to this, it has also antiseptic
properties which make it useful in pre-
serving articles of food. 1t is a condi-
ment, or spice, and should never be
tasted in its pure state.
A distinguished American chemist.
when asked for some information re-
speeding the new material, said: Sac
charm is really in many ways a re-
markable product. 1t is the sweetest
substance known. One part Of it in TO-
600 parts of water will give the water a
perceptibly sweet taste equal to one part
Of cane sugar in $50 parts of water, and
a solution Of one in 10000 is intensely
sweet. In appearance it is white
crystalline powder, soluble in 230 parts
of water at % dogs. centigrade, and is
easily soluble in alcohol and ether It's
scientific name is benzoyl sulphonic
amide
Cautiously enough, saccharin is in no
way related to the class of sugars (carb-
hydrates), either chemically or physio-
logically. 1t is not only unfermentable,
but it possesses an anti-zymotic action;
that is, it retards the ammoniacal fer
mentations in certain secretiOns 1t is
indigestible, inert and non-poisonous,
when taken into the stomach, and passes
out unchanged. These properties give it
an important place in dietetics, phar-
macy and therapeutics. When mixed
with the food of diabetic or obese
patients it enables them to indulge in
sweetened dishes which ordinarily must
be denied them on account of the iniuri-
Gus effects of sugar under such condi-
tons.
A HARMLESS SwEETENING.
at is harmless and effective sweeten-
ing agent for bitter medicines, and chcmi-
cal combinations of it with several aka
loids, such as quinine, strychnine and
morphine, have been employed with
marked success. 1t is also given with
other remedial agents, or in pure solu-
ton as an anti-fermentative medicine
in various gastric and intestinal dis
orders.
Besides these medical uses, saccharin
is largely employed In France as sub
stitute for sugar in confectionery and
liquors One part of it to l 000 or 1900
parts of glucose grape sugar. makes an
equivalent to cane sugar for confec-
TONERS use, and one part of saccharin to
5000 parts of liquid is considered sufli-
cient for making sweet hqueurs. Al
together there is good reason for the
concern felt by sugar producers on &C
count of substance, teaspoonful Of
which will convert a barrel Of water
into good syrup and which does not de-
cay, mold or ferment. and has no injuri-
Gus effect upon the human system.
The chief difficulty in the way of its
use is the high cost of production; but
improved processes will doubtless be de-
vised which will bring its market value
TO much lower figure than it now COM
A INrl- /