NEW REMEDIES IN VETERINARY MEDICINE. 
a consequence, there originated such preparations as, the malate 
citrate and lactate of iron. Most of these combinations are 
markedly less astringent than the inorganic salts, more pleasant 
to take, and presumably more readily borne and assimilated by 
the digestive organs. Even these preparations, though very 
great improvements on the earlier soluble forms of iron, did not 
come up to the requirements of a progressive therapy, and ex¬ 
periments were continuously being carried on with the view of 
discovering combinations of iron which, without possessing any 
of the disagreeable properties of the older galenicals, should 
exceed them m therapeutical activity and usefulness. The first 
step toward achieving this object, in the direction of preparing 
what may be termed natural compounds of iron was taken in 
1 ky preparing a soluble albuminate of iron, i. e., decom¬ 
posing a clear solution of albumen with ferric sulphate, a pre¬ 
cipitate was obtained which, freshly prepared, dissolved in a 
slight excess of caustic alkali. The solution, however, was 
possible only when a certain proportion was maintained between 
t e iron salt and albumen. When such a clear alkaline solution 
was dialysed, sulphuric acid and excess of alkali were entirely 
removed, and the solution was unaffected in its medicinal virtues 
by the addition of alkali, alcohol or excess of acid. As this 
preparation and the iron salts generally are very largely pre¬ 
scribed for anaemia and other consequencea of a deficient nutri¬ 
ent supply, it may be interesting to inquire a little more into the 
nature of the morbid condition. Besides ordinary anaemia or 
chlorosis, there is a distinct variety of idiopathic anaemia, the 
essential pathological feature of which is a destruction of blood, 
and the most constant anatomical sign of which is the presence 
of an excess of iron in the liver, where the seat of the disinte¬ 
gration of blood corpuscles is in the portal circulation, and the 
destruction is believed to be affected by certain poisonous agents, 
prdbably of ptomainic nature, absorbed from the intestinal tract! 
The action of iron under these conditions has been closely in¬ 
vestigated by numbers of physiologists and pathologists. Some 
have believed that the number of corpuscles increased under the 
