ON IRON AND ITS ASSIMILATION BY THE ORGANI8M. 543 
Of the normal iron of our body which is excreted in meta- 
jolism, about 10 per cent, appear in the urine and about 90 
>er cent, are excreted by the intestinal mucous coat. 
If we inject iron hypodermically or intravenously it will 
nppear in the very first minutes in large quantity in the 
irine, without, however, being firmly linked to organic mate- 
ial. In such a case we observe metal kidney, the parenchyma 
laving been attacked. 
Of the iron, however, which had been administered per 
>s and was not merely received by the system, but assimi- 
ated, we may suppose that it will be secreted like the nor¬ 
mal iron, 10 per cent, per urine and 90 per cent, per feces. 
But then that 10 per cent, will be firmly linked and not de- 
ectable by the ordinary reagents. 
The mentioned 10 per cent, must therefore be considered 
s a measure for assimilated iron. The average amount of 
normal iron voided in 24 hours is one milligramme. 
To determine whether in a case of administration of iron 
compounds the firmly linked iron in the urine is increased or 
not. and for how much, we must be led by the foregoing con- 
iderations. 
It has to be stated that none of the iron medicines exist¬ 
ing heretofore, of any name whatever, sensibly increase the 
mentioned amount, that we consequently are not justified in 
onsidering them to have been truly assimilated. 
When Bunge at the May meeting (of the year) of Europe- 
n naturalists at Munich, emphatically states “the best place 
jt buying iron is not the drug store, but the vegetable and 
gg market,” referring to yolks and spinach, he was right in 
0 far as in those substances the iron is contained linked in 
uch a manner as to appear in a form ready for assimilation. 
But he forgot that newer researches had attempted, and suc- 
essfully attempted, to furnish such compounds in which the 
ron was firmly linked to an albuminoid substance, in which 
: was contained to the amount of about 2 per cent. This 
ubstance is Robert’s haemogallol. 
Robert satisfied himself by prolonged experimental study, 
lat most if not all of the then existing iron compounds were 
