" SACCHARINE."

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1755, 1 February 1888, Page 2

" SACCHARINE."

THREE HDNDR3D TIMES SWEHTJBB THAN SUGAR,

("New Zealand Herald" January 24.) A ehort time ago, m our soienoa column, we culled attention to a new iweeten'ng agent Darned « saccharine, 1 whidh threatens to settle all quoutions about cane sugar, or beet root sug.r. Saccharine has three hundred times the sweetening power of nuffar. Mr Hen ton, maaager of the New Zealand Drug Company, who hare been appointed the sola agentjj for New Zdaland, oailed yesterday, and gave pract cal proof of tho power of the newlydiaoovered material. Takings a minute p Drtion of aacchariue on the point of a blade of a penknife, he put it m 4 small tumblurful of water, wben lo ! the water became quite sweet. A grain and a half of saccharine will sweeten a cup of tea or coffee. In an ariiole on eaconarine, m the baurday "Review," it ia stated :—Sac- < harine ia a whit© crystalline powder, very like finely powdered sugar, and posse^es three hundred times the sweetening power of cane snsrar. Jt ia not a food like sngar nor a drug like glycerine, but a Bimple •weetenii.g condiment, which passes through the human system unchanged, and without, as far an has yet been aeoertained, produoinp any sensations except that of sweetness to the palate, and withou^evil co» t equenoeß ocuny deioription wnatever, cv n when given m daily dooei wbioh are equivalent m sweetening power to^ three pounds of cane sugar Tno fcientifio name of this curious irabstanca is benaoyl sulphonio iiuide ; and, m addition to its fUvonng qualities, antiseptic properties are claimed for it, ao that it has no chemical affinitieß to the sugars of carbohydrates, and oaunot be broken np by tho organisms which prodnoe fermentation ; henoe the possibilities of ita use for various domestic purposes oannot be well exaggerated. It will alao become a valuable adjanct to the druggist In the preparation of some medicines, and to the nurse m the preparation of foods for the sick ; while it will be an Important adjunct to the phys'oUn m the treatment of obeal'y and diabetes. Saccharine is soluble m dilute solutions of carbonate of soda, and It has Oeen made into Kzaoges with this substance, which allows of its belnjr na»«J for mtiny domestic purposes, anch ai sweeten, lug tea (one grain of saoobatine being sufficient for a oup of tea), and of befog carried m the kit of soldiers and travel* lers as a highly oonoantrated substitute for sugar. It it atao soluble m aloohol and glycerine, and m this Bhape it will be highly acceptable to medioal men, and pussibly to the manufacturers of wines— artificial wines we mean, of the gooseberry, champagne description. The teetotAllet will ha.l the substance with delight when he learns that it oannot be oonverted by fermentation into poisonous Ifqaew, %nd the housewife will ace In it infinite poisi. bllities of usefulness and economy In iti powera to preaerve as well as a wee ten jams, "sweets," and confectionery, and not the least of its advantaaes, the use with which it can be kept under look and key, and the small space It will occupy (a ths storeroom. <