Some manufacturers use United States Pharmacopeia pepsin in place of the saccharated article; others do not give the exact quantities of hydrochloric acid which their product is supposed to contain, but make use of the indefinite expression “q. s.;” still others state merely that hydrochloric acid is present, but make no claim whatever concerning the quantity. From purely theoretical considerations it is possible that the tablets referred to might contain appreciable amounts of hydrochloric acid. Since the formulas for some of the tablets furnish no information concerning the content of hydrochloric acid, it seemed worth while to determine the quantity, if any, actually present in some of the tablets on the market. Accordingly a trade package of “digestive aromatic tablets,” as put up under the label of each of six American manufacturers, was purchased and submitted to examination in the Association laboratory. Qualitative tests made on specimens from each brand of tablets demonstrated the absence of uncombined hydrochloric acid in each. Further tests[93] showed that hydrochloric acid in protein combination was present essentially in the amounts claimed in three of the specimens. In two of the others hydrochloric acid was entirely absent; in the remaining one only the merest traces of hydrochloric acid could be found. [93] Details of this analysis appear in the annual report for 1910 of the Chemical Laboratory of the American Medical Association. +-----------------------------------------+ | H. K. MULFORD COMPANY | | “_DIGESTIVE AROMATIC_” | | “Pepsin, Sacch. 4 grains | | “Pancreatin 1/2 grain | | “Diastase 1/16 grain | | “Acid Lactic 1/8 grain | | “Acid Hydrochloric 1/8 grain | | “Aromatic Powder 1/4 grain | | “Dose: 1 or 2 tablets.” | +-----------------------------------------+ In the above formula each tablet is said to contain 1/8 grain hydrochloric acid. This amount is equivalent to 0.002584 gm. (1/25 grain) absolute hydrochloric acid. Analysis demonstrated that each tablet contains about 0.00267 gm. hydrochloric acid (absolute HCl) or essentially the amount claimed. The average dose of diluted hydrochloric acid United States Pharmacopeia is 1 c.c., equivalent to 0.1049 gm. absolute hydrochloric acid. To obtain this quantity from the above preparation the patient would be required to swallow more than three dozen of the tablets.