374 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
A Pharmacopceia ; including tlie Outlines 
of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, for 
the Use of Practitioners and Students of 
Veterinary Medicine. By Richard V. 
Tuson. F.C.S., etc. London: John 
Churchill and Sons, New Burlington 
Street. 1869. 
Outlines of Chemistry; or, Brief Notes 
of Chemical Facts. By William Od- 
ling, M.B., F.R.S., etc. London: Long¬ 
mans, Green and Co. 1870. 8vo, pp. 
468. 
The Liverpool Medical and Surgical 
Reports. October, 1869. Edited by P. 
M. Braidwood, M.D., and Regi¬ 
nald Harrison, F.R.C.S. London: 
John Churchill and Sons. Liverpool: 
Adam Holden. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Communications for this Journal, and books for review, should be addressed to the 
Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square. Those received after the 20th of the month cannot 
be noticed in the ensuing number. 
Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the transmission of the Journal 
should be sent to Elias Bremridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, W.C., before the 
25th of the month. 
Advertisements (not later than the 23rd) to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, W. 
Ferri Carbonas Saccharata. 
Sir,—The British Pharmacopoeia in treat¬ 
ing of Ferri Carbonas Saccharat a (saccharated 
carbonate of iron), says :—Carbonate of iron, 
FeOC0 2 or reC0 3 , mixed with peroxide 
of iron and sugar, the carbonate forming 
at least 57 per cent, of the mixture. Take 
of— 
Sulphate of iron ... 2 ounces 
Carbonate of ammonia . 1^ „ 
Boiling distilled water . 2 gallons 
Refined sugar .... 1 ounce 
dissolve, etc. 
Is it possible that this preparation can 
contain 57 per cent, of carbonate of iron ? 
I tried the process and it does not, and ac¬ 
cording to theoretical calculation it contains 
as follows:— 
Sulphate of iron, Fe O, S 0 3 + 7 H 0 = 139; 
FeO = 36. 
139 parts sulphate of iron contain 36 
parts of protoxide, which, when combined 
with carbonic acid, C0 2 = 22, yield 58 parts 
of protocarbonate of iron. 
139 parts sulphate of iron produce there¬ 
fore not more than 58 parts of protocar¬ 
bonate, so that 2 ounces or 875 grains of 
sulphate of iron cannot yield more than 
875 x 58 : 139 ~ 365'1 grains of protocar¬ 
bonate of iron, to which 1 ounce or 437‘5 
grains of sugar have to be added, forming 
a mixture of 802’6 grains of saccharated car- 
bonate of iron, which is composed of 45’4 
per cent, of carbonate of iron and of 54*6 
per cent, of sugar. J. Schweitzer. 
86, King's Road ,, Brighton, 
November 20th, 1869. 
[Mr. Schweitzer will find in the list of 
typographical errors noticed in this Journal j 
last July, and previously corrected in the 
reprint of the Pharmacopoeia, as well as by 
slips inserted in much of the previous issues 
of the work, that the proportion of carbonate 
of iron was printed 57 instead of 37 .—Ed. 
Ph. J.] 
Early Closing in the Wholesale 
Drug Trade. 
Sir,—I understand there is a growing 
tendency in the wholesale trade to curtail 
the hours of business. Several important 
firms have closed their establishments for 
some time past at six o’clock, p.m., and one 
or two more within the last few weeks have 
followed their example. Trusting that the 
movement, which is a great boon to those 
employed, many being obliged to reside a 
long distance from their places of business, 
will speedily become universal, 
I am, Sir, yours respectfully, 
Wholesale. 
London, November 20th, 1869. 
The Assistants’ Grievance. 
Dear Sir,—As previous to the passing of 
the late Pharmacy Act, assistants thirty 
years of age, and who had been in the con¬ 
fidential service of a chemist and druggist 
for a period of five years, were, by the bye¬ 
laws of the Pharmaceutical Society, placed 
on an equal footing wi^h chemists and drug¬ 
gists in business on their own account, I do 
not think it quite just to them that the late 
Act should altogether ignore them in the 
manner it does. Certainly, if that qualifi¬ 
cation was sufficient then, it ought to be 
now, as there are, I believe, instances in 
which young, men with very little experience 
