EXPERIMENTS AND NOTES ON SYRUP OF IODIDE OF IRON. 333 
blanched ones. The residue from the 240 grains of blanched almonds weighs 40 
grains; from the same weight of unblanched, deducting 17 grains for the coats, 
33 grains, thus clearly showing that more is worked into the milk from the un- 
blanched than from the blanched. 
Again, if the two be examined and estimated by the amount of odour, it will 
once more be decided in favour of the unblanched product. In these days of 
railroad speed, cloak-rooms, and telegrams—when one is expected to be able to 
send to three or four stations at about the same hour of the day—it must surely 
be worth something to be able to make as good if not a better preparation, with 
less inconvenience and a certain saving of time. 
For this idea I am indebted to a young friend, and to any one not aware of 
it, it is a wrinkle worth taking into consideration. One word in finishing, you 
see how small a matter I have ventured to bring before you. Many of you in 
the course of the year, using your faculties of observation, must meet with many 
points better worth recording. Let me say, bring them here. 
The Chairman, in presenting the thanks of the meeting to Mr. Haselden, 
said he was rather surprised to hear it suggested that to make Pulois cretce aro- 
rnaticus an infusion of saffron should be used and essential oils, in order to pro¬ 
duce a bright powder. This bright powder was usually produced by wholesale 
druggists, but he could assure the meeting that no infusion of saffron was used, 
nor was any use made of essential oils. The dry saffron and spices were ground 
up together, the whole secret being in the weight of the stone which w r as used to 
grind the materials. If they were worked up by hand in a mortar, it was not 
possible to exert sufficient force to bring out the colour from the saffron and 
force it into the chalk, but when two granite stones of a ton weight were em¬ 
ployed, and a large quantity made at once, the whole of the colouring matter 
was extracted from the saffron and absorbed by the chalk. That was the whole 
secret. 
A FEW EXPERIMENTS AND NOTES ON SYRUP OF IODIDE 
OF IRON. 
BY F. G. BEARDSWORTH. 
Seeing in the 1 Pharmaceutical Journal’ for September an able paper on syrup 
of iodide of iron, has induced me to send you a short account of some experi¬ 
ments tried and results obtained relative to the keeping powers of this syrup. 
Some of the syrup had only been made a few days, and was much. discoloured, 
it having been kept according to the well-known formula of iron wire in a dark 
blue bottle. Some had been kept in a large stone bottle, quite full and well 
corked, so that no light or air could have by any possibility penetrated to it. 
This was very much discoloured, in fact was of an amber colour, being very 
similar to oil of almonds, excepting that it was of rather a browner shade. 
After careful observation the following results were obtained, viz.: 
No. 1.—Syrup, slightly discoloured, after being made three days, and having 
been kept in a small blue stoppered bottle with iron wire in it, was put into a 
four-ounce white phial, and two grains of citric acid put to it. At the same time 
one ounce and a half of syrup out of the same blue bottle, without any acid, was 
put into an ounce and a half phial, a piece of fine iron wdre being made to tra¬ 
verse the whole length of the bottle, and both bottles were put in a window 
wRere there is a bright light, but no sunlight. Lpon examination two days 
after, bottle No. 1 was a little clearer and less coloured; bottle No. 2 having no 
perceptible difference in it. 
At the termination of a week, I examined the bottles again, and found bottle 
