6 
PREPARATION  OF   IODIDE   OF  IRON. 
ratus  I  introduced  thirty  gallons  of  rectified  alcohol,  and  when  a 
quantity  had  percolated  sufficient  to  fill  my  still,  I  commenced 
distillation — -returning  the  recovered  alcohol  into  the  displace- 
ment apparatus,  and  continuing  the  percolation  and  distillation, 
until  the  seeds  were  thoroughly  exhausted, — collected  all  the  al- 
cohol I  could  from  the  exhausted  seeds,  and  continued  the  distil- 
lation until  the  tincture,  in  the  bottom  of  the  still,  was  of  a  sy- 
rupy consistence,  poured  this  while  hot  into  eight  times  its  vol- 
ume of  cold  water,  threw  the  whole  upon  a  calico  filter,  and 
washed  with  cold  water,  until  the  washings  ceased  to  indicate  the 
presence  of  veratria ;  mixed  the  washings  with  what  passed  first 
through  the  filter,  and  added  liquor  ammonise  in  excess,  (about 
4  lbs.)  which  precipitated  the  veratria  with  a  little  of  the  coloring 
matter.  Washed  the  precipitate  with  cold  water  which  removed 
the  greater  portion  of  the  coloring  matter.  Dried  with  a  very 
gentle  heat,  and  when  the  moisture  was  completely  expelled, 
weighed  eleven  and  a  quarter  ounces  of  pure  veratria,  with  but  a 
faint  shade  of  coloring  matter. 
TJ.  S.  Naval  Hospital,  New  YorJt  Station,  October  19th3  1853. 
METHOD   OF   EXHIBITING    THE    IODIDE    OF   IRON  BY 
EXTEMPORANEOUS  PREPARATION. 
By  Daniel  F.  Wright,  M.  D. 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  Memphis  Medical  College,  Tenn. 
In  view  of  the  difficulty  of  procuring  and  keeping  a  reliable 
preparation  of  the  Iodide  of  Iron,  I  have  for  some  time  been  in 
the  habit  of  exhibiting  that  salt  by  extemporaneous  preparation  as 
follows : 
Iodinii, 
Ferri  Hydrogene  Redacti,  aa  33s. 
Mellis,    q.  s. 
Ext.  Cinchonse,  9ij. 
Pulv.  Glycyrrhizae,  q.  s. 
Ft.  massa  et  in  Pill,  xxxij.  div. 
Rub  the  iodine  and  iron  together  till  they  form  a  fine  powder : 
add  honey  enough  to  give  the  consistency  of  thick  molasses ;  then 
rub  for  some  time  till  the  fumes  of  iodine  cease  to  come,  and  the 
mixture  assumes  a  greenish  tinge.  Rub  in  the  extract,  and  add 
powder  enough  to  make  the  mass. 
