Reprint from the “American Journal of Pharmacy,” Dec., i8-m/' 
SUPPOSED TOXIC EFFECT of ARTIFICIAL VANILLIN. 
By L Wolff, 
Pharmaceutical Chemist, N. W. Cor. Chestnut and Twelfth Sts., Philadelphia. 
Read at the Pharmaceutical Meeting November i &. 
An idea prevailing amongst confectioners and others using vanilla or 
flavoring purposes that artificial vanillin possessed poisonous propeitus, 
as well as a recent caution to druggists, from goo5 authority, not . 
employ this article for internal use, based, as I was told, on the ' 
that a whole family was repotted to have been poisoned by eating cr< 
puffs flavored with a minute quantity theieof, led me to make a st 
of experiments with a view of testing this very . 
to establish its poisonous properties, if such it possessed as well as its 
physiological effect. V 
l obtained, to that end, a number of young and healthy rabbits, 
whose average evening temperature I determined (i02’75°F.). Not 
finding any effect from { grain administered to one of them by the 
mouth, noting carefully temperature, appetite and habit of animal, 1 
soon increased the dose to one-half, three-quarters and one grain, find- 
ing again but little change with these doses, certainly none which would 
show a deleterious action of the vanillin, and noticing only with the 
larger doses a slight increase in temperature (i° to 2°). I further 
increased the dose to two giains, which, though slightly elevating the 
temperature, did rather augment than impair the appetite, and showed 
a marked increase in the vivacity of the animal. To obviate the pos- 
sibility of the vanillin not being absorbed in the alimentary canal, 1 
njected hypodermically, at first a quarter and subsequently half a grain 
of it, dissolved in water, to another of the rabits, with the same nega- 
tive result as to its poisonous nature, observing, however, as in the 
larger doses by the mouth, a decided aphrodisiac effect in the animals. f nmuraged by these negative results on the rabbits, I commenced 
to take the same myself, first in ;t then J4, *, £, and even one 
grain doses, without experiencing any notable effect, taking again the 
thermometer as guide in my experiments. An increased dose of two 
grains proved no more effective, though it appeared to produce a slightly 
higher temperature in the evening. 
Its nhysiological effect seemed that of a nerve stimulant, manifesting 
itself 10 U little accelerated circulation, slight trembling, and the night’s 
rest disturbed by dreams. The increase of appetite was quite percepti- 
ble, As'well as the absence of gastric disturbances. 
To lit certain that with slowly increased doses I was not gradually 
accustoming myself to the use of it I desisted for one week, and then 
ag?.1n. took k in grain doses without finding bad effects from it. The 
constant use of it for three weeks gave rise to no symptoms of an 
.; character. That, also, the absence of any symptoms of 
i >isonitnot possibly due to an individual immunity on my 
art, I >T; .. mtftec by giving it in grain doses to some of my friends, 
jaded more effect from it than I did myself, 
in slimming up the results so obtained, I do not hesitate to state that 
artificial vanijlil, si ch as I obtained from Messrs. Fiitzsche Bros., 
.ji^'s aje»tl e agents for the sale of Dr. J. W. Haarmann’s 
vanjl|in in thir’coubtry s, in doses in which it is employed for flavoring 
'<'■$»tkl&Jcvc d of any toxic effects on the human organism; 
that in its phvfckdogical action it is identical with the natural vanillin as 
• contained in the bean, and that if above-stated poisonous effects were 
observed in persons eating cream puff's flavored therewith, the poison- 
ous cause must be looked for in other ingredients of the cream puffs, 
or most probably in the quantity of the confection consumed. 
In conclusion, l would state that amongst the many uses of artificial 
vanillin in pharmacy l have found it most serviceable in preparing the 
“ 1'rochisci Potassii Chloratis” of the Pharmacopoeia, which it leaves 
beautifully white and of a prominent and agreeable taste of vanilla; and 
I submit below the formula for them as employed by me. 
li Potassium chlorate, .... lbs. iv 
Powdered sugar, .... lbs. xvi 
Vanillin, .... grs. xv 
Mucilage of acacia q. s. to make into a mass, which is to be divided 
into lozenges of 25 grains each. 
Philadelphia, November, 1879.