8o MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS. 



combined with a purgative, such as the sulphates of magnesia 

 and soda, or aloes ; no good can be derived from iron until the 

 bowels have been thoroughly relieved, and are acting regularly ; 

 and certain salts, such as the perchloride and pernitrate, which 

 are more astringent to the intestines than others, may some- 

 times be employed to check chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, and 

 to arrest haemorrhage from the bowel in typhoid fever. The 

 remote astringent action of iron is increased from the fact that 

 it is also excreted by the liver, and passes down with the bile. 

 The urine falls somewhat in volume, but the urea and other 

 solids, as well as the acidity, are increased. Haemorrhage from 

 the kidney or bladder is arrested by iron, which is also beneficial 

 in some cases of Bright's disease. 



I Iron similarly reduces the secretion of milk in nursing 

 f women. The remote effect of iron on the mucous surfaces 

 renders it a valuable haemostatic in recurrent passive bleedings 

 from the nose, uterus, and respiratory passages. As a remote 

 astringent, it is invaluable in chronic discharges from the same 

 and allied parts, especially in leucorrhoea. 



5. ACTIONS AND USES OF THE DIFFERENT PREPARATIONS OF IRON. 



Large as is the number of the preparations of iron, they 

 and their special actions may be easily remembered if classified 

 as follows : 



1. Iron, its Oxides and Carbonates. This group com- 

 prises Ferrum Redactum, MisturaFerri Aromatica, Vinum Ferri, 

 Ferri Carbonas Saccharata, Mistura Ferri Composita, Ferri Per- 

 oxidum Hydratum, and Ferri Peroxidum Magneticum. These 

 preparations possess the haematinic action of iron with but little 

 astringency, and are accordingly selected to restore the blood, 

 when the patient has a tendency to dyspepsia and constipation. 

 They are the principal forms of iron used in the routine 

 treatment of anaemia, amenorrhcea, and chlorosis in young 

 women. Let it be observed that these solid preparations form 

 the soluble compounds in the stomach, for absorption into the 

 blood, as readily as do the fluid preparations belonging to the 

 second class. The Mistura Ferri Composita, although a prepara- 

 tion of the protosulphate, contains the carbonate and peroxide, 

 and is a favourite and valuable preparation for anaemia with 

 amenorrhcea ; the iron acting as a haematinic, the potash also 

 building up the red corpuscle (the salts of which are almost en- 

 tirely potassium compounds), and the myrrh possibly increasing 

 the production of leucocytes for conversion into the red, as well 

 as stimulating the uterus. Ferrum Redactum, the Saccharated 

 Carbonate and the Hydrated and Magnetic Oxides, although 

 bulky powders, are easily taken. Vinum Ferri is an agreeable 



