360 
Beef,  Wine  and  Iron. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      August,  1908. 
quality  is  used,  could  much  less  than  seven  milligrammes  of 
nitrogen  be  furnished  per  fluidrachm,  even  if  citrate  of  iron  and 
ammonia  is  not  used. 
In  the  ninety-two  samples  the  iron  varies  from  -025  to  -355  per 
cent,  with  an  average  of  -114.  These  variations  are  in  great  part 
due  to  the  form  of  iron  used,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out.  In 
forty-six  samples  the  label  states  that  the  citrate  had  been  substi- 
tuted for  the  tincture,  while  in  seven  the  tincture  and  in  one 
phosphate  of  iron  is  given  as  the  source  of  the  iron ;  in  the  other 
thirty-eight  samples  there  is  no  statement  as  to  the  iron,  although 
in  the  majority  of  them  it  is  evident  the  citrate  was  used.  The 
average  iron  content  where  the  citrate  is  stated  to  have  been  used 
is  -119  per  cent.;  where  the  tincture  was  used  -090  per  cent.,  or  24 
per  cent.  less. 
The  nitrogen  varies  from  -018  to  o  539,  with  an  average  of  -121 
per  cent.  Only  nine  samples  contain  over  -200  per  cent.,  the  amount 
found  in  our  own  preparation  made  according  to  formula  ;  forty-two 
contain  from  o-io  to  0  20  per  cent.,  twenty-six  from  0  05  to  0-10 
per  cent.,  and  fifteen  less  than  o  05  per  cent.  As  already  stated, 
filtration  of  the  preparation  causes  a  considerable  loss  of  nitrogen, 
and  while  one  fluidrachm  may  "  represent  "  1 2-2  milligrammes  of 
nitrogen,  the  actual  content  may  be  as  low  as  7  milligrammes 
per  fluidrachm,  even  if  made  strictly  according  to  formula.  Admit- 
ting 7  milligrammes  as  the  minimum  standard,  the  analyses  show 
that  only  twenty-three  of  the  samples  reach  this  figure ;  thirty  contain 
from  4  to  6*8  milligrammes,  twenty-five  from  2  to  3-9  milligrammes 
and  fourteen  less  than  2  milligrammes  per  fluidrachm.  In  other 
words,  fifty-five  samples,  or  60  per  cent.,  contain  less  than  half  the 
minimum  standard.  On  the  average  it  was  found  that  about  one- 
third  of  the  nitrogen  was  in  the  form  of  ammonia,  the  greater 
part  of  which  was  derived  from  the  citrate  used.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  what  an  insignificant  amount  of  meat  extract  many  of 
these  preparations  contain. 
The  propriety  of  the  use  of  the  word  "  beef"  in  connection  with 
this  material  is  indeed  questionable,  as  only  in  rare  cases  is  beef 
itself  actually  used  ;  and  even  if  used,  only  the  extractives,  of  no 
nutritive  value,  would  be  present.  Many  of  the  labels  on  the  sam- 
ples bear  other  false  and  misleading  statements,  such  as  "  one-half 
fluidounce  contains  the  strength  of  one  ounce  of  beef,"  "  one  ounce 
