Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1897.  J 
Commercial  Ferruginous  Pills. 
1/ 
COMMERCIAL  FERRUGINOUS  PILLS— BLAUD'S 
FORMULA. 
By  WiivUAM  B.  Thompson. 
Manufacturers  honestly  vie  with  one  another  in  an  endeavor  to 
produce  this  pill  in  an  exact  condition,  and  in  maintaining  its  compo- 
sition in  a  state  that  shall,  in  all  respects,  fulfil  its  therapeutic  pur- 
pose or  intention.  Every  price  schedule  issued  lists  this  pill,  and 
the  quantities  prescribed,  sold  and  used  exceed,  perhaps,  that  of  any 
other  single  kind  except  quinine. 
Physicians  generally  believe  that  a  constitutional  effect  of  the 
iron  is  more  promptly  assured  by  a  continued  use  of  the  Blaud 
composition  than  by  that  of  any  other  form — not  excepting  liquid — 
and  satisfactory  results  must  assuredly  follow  where  the  use  and 
popularity  continue  to  so  great  an  extent.  Yet,  if  we  start  with 
the  theoretical  principle,  and  also  consider  the  chemical  action 
which  occurs  in  the  formation  of  this  pill  mass,  that  action  being 
instantaneous,  when  an  alkaline  carbonate  is  brought  into  contact 
with  the  ferrous  sulphate,  and  then  reflect  upon  the  sensitive  and 
chemically  unstable  character  of  the  ferrous  salt  formed,  with  its 
inevitable  tendency  towards  a  ferrous  oxide,  and  finally  ferric 
oxide,  we  can  scarcely  understand  in  what  manner  art  assumes 
to  control  or  retard  a  chemical  law,  postponing  an  action  which 
is  ultimately,  if  not  speedily,  as  sure  as  that  which  governs 
the  planetary  systems.  Yet  it  is  attempted ;  pervious  and  impervi- 
ous coatings  are  used,  as  means  to  protect  the  iron-salt  from  the 
oxidizing  influence  of  air  and  moisture.  A  physical  examination, 
and  the  application  of  a  color-test  to  these  various  products  of  the 
manufactories,  reveal  so  many  conditions  and  appearances  as  to 
bewilder  the  judgment  when  claims  to  chemical  accuracy  are  made. 
The  result  of  the  first  contact  of  the  iron  and  the  alkali  in  the 
presence  of  moisture  is  to  produce  a  compound  having  a  brownish 
green  color,  that  of  a  more  positive  green  hue  being  accepted  as 
a  more  true  product  of  this  reaction.  Then  if  this  is  accepted  as 
the  proper  color  indication  of  the  true  state  or  condition  in  which 
this  ferrous  salt  should  be  presented  to  the  human  economy  as  a 
remedy,  what  shall  we  say  in  regard  to  those  variable  conditions  as 
to  color  which  the  numerous  commercial  pills  present  ?  Shall  we 
adopt  all  these  as  affording  the  proper  result  of  a  definite  chemical 
