Saccharin,

Saccharin, or GLUCIDE, $C\_6H\_4COSO\_2NH$, is a sweet substance prepared by complex processes from coal-tar. It is a white, semi-crystalline powder, with a faint odour and intensely sweet taste. So sweet is it that it requires to be very much diluted before its sweetness can be appreciated, from $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ to 1 grain sufficing for a cupful of tea. It is not a pure substance as found in commerce, but contains a variable proportion (40 to 60 per cent.) of a less sweet compound. On this account opinions differ as to its sweetening power compared with that of sugar, it being estimated to be from 200 to 300 times stronger than the natural product. It was at first thought likely that it would prove a serious rival to sugar, but its price offers no great inducement, and conflicting opinions as to its safety have rather militated against its use. At present it is employed for sweetening the food of diabetic patients, and for disguising the taste of drugs. Some aerated-water makers also employ it as a substitute for sugar, and it may be used to give an extra sweetness to glucose in the manufacture of artificial jams, &c. Saccharin is but slightly soluble in water, but dissolves readily if mixed with baking-soda, carbonic acid gas being liberated during solution.