128 
SACCHARINE  CARBONATE  OF   IRON  AND  MANGANESE. 
some  of  the  numerous  cases  where  iron  is  usually  indicated,  I  en 
deavored  to  associate  the  two  metals  in  the  shape  of  a  carbonate 
of  the  protoxide,  and  to  retain  them  in  this  condition  through  the 
medium  of  sugar,  as  is  done  in  the  case  of  the  saccharine  carbon- 
ate of  iron,  very  recently  introduced  into  the  London  Pharmaco- 
poeia— a  chalybeate  perhaps  superior  to  every  other,  and  possess- 
ing an  advantage  which  few  practitioners  will  not  recognise  in 
these  days  of  tasteless  globules,  namely  a  complete  freedom  from 
that  nauseous  inky  flavor  which  the  preparations  of  iron  usually  im- 
part to  the  palate. 
The  following  is  the  formula  I  suggested,  and  according  to 
which  the  preparation  in  question  was  made : — 
Saccharine  Carbonate  of  Iron  and  Manganese. 
Take  of  Finely  powdered  sulphate  of  iron        3iij.  3j. 
Carbonate  of  soda  3  v. 
Sulphate  of  manganese  gj.  Bj. 
White  sugar  ^ iiss. 
Dissolve  each  of  the  three  first  mentioned  ingredients  in  a  pint 
and  a  half  of  water,  add  the  solutions,  and  mix  them  well ;  collect 
the  precipitate  on  a  cloth  filter,  and  immediately  wash  it  with  cold 
water  ;  squeeze  out  as  much  of  the  water  as  possible,  and,  without 
delay,  triturate  the  pulp  with  the  sugar,  previously  reduced  to  a 
fine  powder.    Dry  it  at  a  temperature  of  about  120°  Fah. 
The  compound  thus  prepared  is  a  powder  of  a  reddish-brown 
color,  and  devoid  of  all  taste,  save  that  imparted  by  the  sugar, 
with  which  the  salts  of  the  two  metals  are  conjoined.  The  dose 
is  five  grains,  gradually  increased  up  to  three  times  a  day  ;  it 
should  be  given  with  the  meals,  or  at  least  immediately  after. 
In  the  papers  alluded  to  above,  Mr.  Petrequin  asserts,  that  cases 
of  anaemia,  which  had  resisted  the  administration  of  iron  alone 
yielded  rapidly  to  a  combination  of  this  metal  with  manganese. 
In  confirmation  of  this  statement,  I  may  say,  that  in  two  cases 
which  lately  came  under  my  notice,  the  one  of  chlorotic  anaemia, 
with  amenorrhoea ;  the  other  of  uncomplicated  traumatic  anaemia, 
both  of  long  standing,  the  saccharine  carbonate  of  iron  and  man- 
ganese succeeded  entirely,  after  iron  alone  had  failed.  In  each  of 
these  cases,  its  effects  upon  the  composition  of  the  blood,  and 
through  this,  upon  the  general  health,  were  extremely  rapid,  thus 
affording  a  contrast  to  the  effects  of  the  simple  preparations  of 
iron,  which,  even  when  eventually  successful,  are  usually  slow  in 
their  operation. — Pharm.  Journ.  from  Medical  Times  and  Gaz. 
