70 
IRON-SUGAR, OR “ SOLUBLE PEROXIDE OF IRON.” 
a half in diameter, and having a very marked reticulated testa, of a yellowish 
colour. The seeds, when fresh, are said to be very agreeable eating, tasting like 
almonds. They yield by expression a very fine oil in abundance. The pulp of 
the fruit is exceedingly bitter. 
Efforts have been made to introduce the plant in India, but as yet, I believe, 
without success. The plant is well worthy of notice, and if a quantity of the 
seeds were forwarded to this country, they would, in all probability, meet with 
a fair trial. It is also found in other parts of Africa and in the Mauritius. 
Gnidia bark ( Gnidia nodifolia f). —This bark, which has much the appear¬ 
ance of that of Mezereum, I have met with recently in small samples, and also 
mixed with Prionium Palmita , from S. Africa, where it grows in abundance. It 
is very fibrous, and might possibly prove of use in paper-making if a sufficient 
quantity and at a cheap rate could be supplied. However, paper-manufacturers 
are best able to judge in this matter. In the Kew museum there are samples 
from Ceylon of rough paper, and also rope fit for tying up bale goods made from 
another species of the same genus. 
IRON-SUGAR, OR “ SOLUBLE PEROXIDE OE IRON.” 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—As I am responsible for the paragraph on Iron-Sugar, or “ So-called 
Soluble Peroxide of Iron,” which appeared in the May number (p. 647) of your 
Journal, and as Dr. Smith in your last issue directly contradicts one of the 
statements in that paragraph, perhaps I may be allowed to say a few words in 
my own justification. Some time in April, I met with a bottle of this prepara¬ 
tion, which had been purchased by a house in London for the supply of a cus¬ 
tomer in the country, and as Sucre Ferrugineux was then a novelty to English 
pharmacy, I took a small quantity for examination. I found that about 200 
grs. treated with cold distilled water gave a red solution, which, after filtration 
through Swedish paper, was perfectly bright and transparent; while the residue 
on the filter, when washed and dried, was scarcely weighable. Upon warming 
this clear red liquid, the oxide was precipitated and the liquid became colour¬ 
less. The same change took place spontaneously in a portion of solution allowed 
to stand for twelve hours. Upon these results, with some others, the paragraph 
in question was based. When I read Dr. Smith’s communication, therefore, I was 
somewhat surprised at the statements he made. But this morning I repeated 
my experiments on a portion of the same sample that I first tested. Instead of 
a red liquid, however, I only obtained a pale straw-coloured solution, nearly the 
whole of the oxide of iron remaining insoluble on the filter. Its character had 
entirely changed ; that which was soluble three months ago had now become 
insoluble. 
It would appear, therefore, that iron sugar does not retain its solubility for 
an indefinite time, and I infer that the sample which Dr. Smith examined had 
passed into the insoluble stage before he received it. Of course I was not aware 
of this tendency to deterioration by keeping at the time I wrote the notice, and 
I must admit that it detracts from the value of the preparation. 
Nevertheless, I am inclined to think that the oxide of iron in Sucre Ferrugi- 
neux , even when it has become insoluble, is in a condition in which it is far 
more easily dissolved by weak acids or the juices of the stomach, than istheferri 
peroxidum hydratum of the Pharmacopoeia, to which Dr. Smith compares it. 
