SYRUP  OF  IODIDE  OP  IRON. 
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SYRUP  OF  IODIDE  OF  IRON. 
By  W.  C.  Chapman. 
Although  the  above  subject  has  been  worn  almost  threadbare 
by  the  many  articles  which  have  appeared  in  the  different  jour- 
nals from  time  to  time,  yet  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  pre- 
sent to  the  druggist  a  brief  statement  of  facts  in  regard  to  the 
process  of  forming  this  favorite  syrup  of  the  physician. 
Having  tried  most  of  the  recipes  which  have  been  given  by 
the  different  authors,  we  have  finally  adopted  that  of  Dr.  Squibb, 
found  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation for  1858,  in  which  article  he  differs  from  the  Pharmaco- 
poeia in  using  much  less  iron  than  is  there  directed;  also,  in 
boiling  the  sugar  before  the  iodide  is  added.  His  reasons  for 
this  he  explains  in  the  following  paragraph  : — «  In  filtering  the 
solution  of  the  iodide  into  the  sugar,  and  then  shaking  them  till 
the  sugar  is  dissolved,  a  bright,  clear  solution  is  rarely  obtained. 
This  arises  from  the  circumstance  that  almost  all  sugar  contains 
particles  of  dust  and  insoluble  matters,  and  from  the  practical 
fact  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  make  a  bright  syrup  without 
a  boiling  temperature,  or  a  most  tedious  filtration.  Almost  all 
sugar,  within  ordinary  reach,  contains  something  that  renders 
cold  made  syrups  more  or  less  cloudy,  and  very  difficult  to 
filter." 
He  again  differs  from  the  officinal  process  in  placing  the  point 
of  the  funnel  beneath  the  surface  of  the  syrup,  and  adding  the 
iodide  solution  in  small  quantities,  maintaining  a  level  till  all 
has  been  poured  in.  His  reason  for  thus  doing  may  be  that  the 
solution,  in  filtering  and  dropping  through  the  air,  is  more  liable 
to  become  chemically  changed  before  it  mingles  with  the  syrup  ; 
which  difficulty  is  obviated  by  allowing  it  to  mix  immediately 
with  the  sugar. 
It  has  been  recommended  by  some  writers  that  a  coil  of  iron 
wire  be  placed  in  the  syrup,  but  this  precaution  is  found  objec- 
tionable, as  the  iron,  after  a  time,  becomes  oxidized,  thus  render- 
ing it  more  or  less  turbid,  and  so  entirely  destroying  its  purity 
and  beauty. 
On  the  9th  of  last  May,  we  prepared  a  quantity  of  the  syrup 
after  the  recipe  of  Dr.  Squibb,  and  put  it  up  in  vials  contain- 
