IRON  REDUCED  BY  CARBON. 
129 
ON  IRON  REDUCED  BY  CARBON. 
By  M.  A.  Henry. 
This  new  preparation,  proposed  by  M.  A.  Henry,  pharma- 
cien  at  Giromans  (Upper  Rhine),  is  an  intimate  mixture  of  me- 
tallic iron  and  carbon,  obtained  by  the  calcination  of  an  organic 
salt  of  iron,  the  pyrolignite  of  iron.  This  salt  taken  in  its  li- 
quid state  is  evaporated  to  dryness  over  a  gentle  fire,  and  the 
residue  is  calcined  at  a  dull  red  heat.  The  product  is  a  light> 
porous,  impalpable,  nonpyrophoric  carbon,  of  which  the  compo- 
sition is  uniform  where  the  operation  has  been  properly  conduct- 
ed. The  great  tenuity  and  slight  density  of  this  carboferric 
powder  renders  easy  its  suspension  in  liquids,  to  the  bottom  of 
which  it  does  not  precipitate  like  iron  reduced  by  hydrogen.  The 
presence  of  a  notable  quantity  of  charcoal  has  the  advantage  of 
rendering  the  product  more  spongy,  more  absorbent,  of  facilita- 
ting thus  the  contact  of  the  ferruginious  particles  with  the  li- 
quids of  the  stomach,  and  of  preventing  by  a  special  action,  anal- 
ogous to  that  of  the  charcoal  of  Belloc,  the  eructations  of  the 
stomach  produced  by  preparations  of  iron. 
The  clinical  trials  made  by  Dr.  Benoit  Cantonal,  physician  at 
Giromans,  goes  to  confirm  the  efficacy  of  this  new  product,  which 
M.  Henry  had  rationally  foreseen  from  its  chemical  composition. 
The  following  are  the  conclusions  to  which  this  operator  has  been 
led. 
Iron  reduced  by  carbon^  in  the  dose  of  1J  to  2  grains  three 
times  a  day,  has  all  the  efficacy  of  the  best  preparations  of  iron. 
Perfectly  suspended  it  has  never  caused  constipation  nor  dyspep- 
tic exacerbations  which  so  often  follow  the.  use  of  the  soluble 
preparations  of  iron,  and  it  possesses,  nevertheless,  an  activity 
much  greater  than  the  insoluble  preparations,  which  are  fre- 
quently resorted  to  at  first.  The  mean  duration  of  43  cases  of 
chlorosis  was  two  days  and  the  mean  quantity  of  the  medicine 
administered  was  11  grammes  168  grains.  The  efficacy  of  this 
product,  its  easy  preparation,  and  moderate  price,  recommends  it 
to  practitioners,  especially  in  medicines  for  the  poor  Jour,  de 
Pharm.  Dec.  1858,  from  Gaz.  Med.  de  Strasbourg. 
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