September 24, 1870.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
251 
namely, instead of drying the chirettine, I add to its pure 
solution a proportion of sugar (20 lb. for each 60 lb. of 
chiretta used), dry the whole by gentle evaporation, and 
powder it. The quantity of bitter principle present 
causes quite a minute increase in the weight of the pro¬ 
duct, which is, notwithstanding, so bitter that 1 grain is 
perceptible in a gallon of water. 
When well prepared, in a dry atmosphere, saccharo- 
chirettine is nearly white. It forms a clean solution 
with water, and in portability and handiness for adminis¬ 
tration I submit that it is a most convenient pharmaceu¬ 
tic form of the drug it represents. The strength of sac- 
charo-chirettine is as one to three of the herb; 10 grains 
being equal to 30 grains of chiretta, or about 2^ fluid 
ounces of infusion. It is given as an antiperiodic in 
doses of 10 to 15 grains, three times daily, and here, in 
Bombay, considered equal to 3 to 5 grains of quinine. 
A decided advantage that can be given it over chiretta 
is that some uniformity of strength can be guaranteed 
by regulating the quantity of sugar used according to 
the proportion of ammonio-acetate of lead required to 
precipitate the chirettine. 
That chiretta varies considerably in strength I have 
foimd by experience. 
The Chairman stated that he had not found the tinc¬ 
ture of chiretta give any deposit on keeping in this coun¬ 
try. Probably the difference in this respect might be 
due to climate. 
Professor Attfield remarked on the peculiarity of the 
active principle of chiretta in undergoing decomposition 
when its solution was evaporated, as being a character 
worth examination from a chemical point of view, as well 
as in its bearing on the making of pharmaceutical pre¬ 
parations of chiretta. 
Mr. Groves approved highly of the principle on which 
the manufacture of saccharo-chirettine was based. He 
also thought that the satisfactory results obtained by 
the author in this instance seemed to show the wisdom 
of using sugar in certain pharmaceutical preparations as 
a preservative, and he referred to the old practice of 
preparing medicines in the form of troches, etc., as one 
probably useful on that account, which might with bene¬ 
fit be reverted to in our day, especially in the case of 
medicines destined for export to foreign countries. 
The Strength of Twenty-four Specimens of 
Saccharated Carbonate of Iron. 
BY J. J. NICHOLSON, SUNDERLAND. 
I have recently had occasion to examine several sam¬ 
ples of saccharated carbonate of iron, and have been 
struck with the great difference in their composition. 
It is surprising that so great a diversity should exist, for 
the process of manufacture is exceedingly simple, although 
a certain amount of care is necessary to secure a good 
and permanent preparation. 
However, the result of my examination shows a dis¬ 
crepancy which, were the article of a more active nature, 
would be rather alarming; even as it is, we know what 
importance is attached to the action of this preparation 
in many serious cases, and to say the least, it would be 
well if we could have an article of more uniform strength. 
Each of the twenty-four samples I have examined was 
obtained either by myself or friends from pharmacists of 
position in their several towns, and nothing can show 
more plainly how little reliance is to be placed on the 
saccharated carbonate of iron as a medicine than a glance 
at the following table, where its strength may be seen to 
range from No. 1, which contains 4T9 per cent, of car¬ 
bonate, to No. 24, which only contains 22-6 per cent. 
The principal cause of this difference, I believe, is to bo 
found in the preparation, which requires care, rapidity, 
and^attention, as when finished and properly dried, the 
change from keeping is so slow and gradual as to be 
scarcely worth taking into consideration; and among 
the samples here shown the oldest have not, by any 
moans, turned out the worst; as, for instance, No. 10, 
which has been kept in paper for seven years, and yet 
comes up to the ordinary commercial standard of strength, 
which Professor Attfield gives in his ‘ Manual of Che¬ 
mistry’ as 37 per cent. 
Table showing amount of real Carbonate of Iron in twenty - 
four specimens of Saccharated Carbonate of Iron. 
Iron. 
Iron in the 
ferrous 
state. 
Carbonate 
Iron. 
Ferri 
Carb. 
Saech. 
ought to 
contain. 
1 
y 22-0 
1 
j 
22-0 
45-50 
No. 1 
21-0 
20-25 
41-90 
Liverpool. 
2 
22-4 
19-68 
40-75 
Newcastle. 
3 
22-4 
19-44 
40-23 
Aberdeen. 
4 
23-8 
18-86 
39-10 
Nottingham. 
5 
28-0 
18-63 
38-58 
Sunderland. 
6 
21-0 
18-63 
38-58 
Liverpool. 
7 
21-0 
18-04 
37-36 
London. 
8 
30-8 
17-82 
36-90 
Newcastle. 
9 
21-7 
17-82 
36-90 
London. 
10 
28-0 
17-82 
36-90 
Sunderland. 
11 
19-6 
17-22 
35-66 
London. 
12 
19-6 
17-22 
35-66 
Edinburgh. 
13 
22-4 
17-00 
35-20 
Torquay. 
14 
22-4 
17-00 
35-20 
Belfast. 
15 
22-4 
16-20 
33-55 
Gloucester. 
16 
22-4 
16-20 
33-55 
Sunderland. 
17 
33-6 
15-39 
31-87 
Bristol. 
18 
18-2 
15-39 
31-87 
Belfast. 
19 
22-4 
14-58 
30-19 
Harrogate, 
20 
21-0 
13-77 
28-50 
Liverpool. 
21 
12-6 
12-15 
25-16 
Sunderland. 
22 
21-0 
11-34 
23-48 
Nottingham. 
23 
22-4 
11-34 
23-48 
Aberdeen. 
24 
25-2 
10-92 
22-61 
Castle Eden. 
In No. 13, which was sent to me as a very old sample, 
only 5*4 per cent, of carbonate has become useless through 
oxidation. This is not at all above the average quantity 
lost in the preparation. 
No. 24 is known by my informant to have stood 
thirteen years in a wide-mouthed bottle without a cork, 
and how many before that, he is not able to say, which 
probation may certainly be considered a fair trial of its 
permanence. 
The relative age of different samples may be pretty 
nearly determined by their degree of solubility in dilute 
hydrochloric acid; those I know to be old have always 
required a considerable amount of heat for their solu¬ 
tion, while a recently prepared specimen will dissolve in 
acid of the same strength at ordinary temperatures. I 
think it is shown by these examples that the sugar is 
a very efficient preservative when the preparation is 
finished, but during the process there is scarcely a 
sample that escapes oxidation. Some makers appear to 
have tried to get over the difficulty by largely increasing 
the quantity of iron, so as to allow for the oxidation of 
a considerable portion, as instanced in Nos. 5, 8, 10, 
17, where the iron is considerably in excess of the nor¬ 
mal quantity, but in these cases the loss has been 
proportionately great, while in No. 21, where the pro¬ 
portion of iron is much smaller, it has been nearly all 
preserved in the active ferrous state, the quantity in the 
ferric form being much less than 1 per cent. 
In No. 1 also, the whole, or nearly so, of the carbonate 
has been preserved, and I think this may be classed as a 
perfect specimen of ferri carbonas saccharata. In all 
these there are tracos of the presence of sulphates, but 
in none have I found any appreciable quantity. 
