Amju°nY'i902arm'}       Preparing  a  He  matin  Product.  275 
the  organic  materia  medica  as  they  occur  in  the  ordinary  channels 
of  trade  at  the  present  time. 
A  PRACTICAL  METHOD  OF  PREPARING  A  HEMATIN 
PRODUCT. 
By  Torald  Soumann,  M.D. 
(From  the  Pharmacological  Laboratory  of  Western  Reserve  University, 
Cleveland,  O.) 
I.  INTRODUCTORY. 
The  comparative  value  of  "  inorganic  "  and  "  organic  "  iron  prep- 
arations is  still  under  discussion.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  into 
this  question,  but  I  take  it  for  established  that  experimenters  and 
the  majority  of  clinicians  acknowledge  that  organic  iron  prepara- 
tions are  indicated  in  certain  conditions.  Iron  in  the  organic  form — ■ 
i.  e.}  combined  in  such  a  way  that  it  cannot  be  demonstrated  directly 
by  chemical  reactions — differs  entirely  in  its  therapeutic  properties 
from  the  ordinary  "  inorganic  "  iron  salts.  It  cannot  be  produced 
synthetically,  any  more  than  proteid-nitrogen  can  be  produced 
from  ammonia  or  nitrates.  Preparations  containing  it  can  only  be 
isolated  from  cells,  either  vegetable  or  animal.  Typical  of  prepara- 
tions of  the  former  class  are  the  nucleins ;  of  the  latter,  the  hemo- 
globin derivatives.  The  origin  of  the  organic  iron  does  not  seem 
to  be  an  important  feature  in  its  therapeutic  action ;  so  that  the  cost 
of  the  preparation  and  the  pharmaceutic  elegance  of  the  product 
are  the  principal  features  which  will  determine  the  choice  of  a 
useful  compound. 
As  a  raw  material  for  the  manufacture  of  an  organic  iron,  blood 
has  certainly  the  advantage  of  a  low  prime  cost.  Raw  defibrinated 
blood,  however,  is  justly  repellent  to  the  aesthetic  taste  of  most 
patients ;  and  this  holds,  although  to  a  less  extent,  for  blood  which 
has  been  simply  dried  or  preserved  with  glycerin.  This  objection- 
able feature  can  be  very  largely  removed  by  isolating  the  hemoglobin 
or  one  of  its  modifications.  The  dose  is  in  this  way  reduced,  the 
sanguinous  character  is  disguised,  and  the  raw  animal  flavor  is 
entirely  destroyed.  To  secure  this  end  for  medicinal  purposes  it 
is  not  necessary  that  the  product  should  be  entirely  free  from  for- 
eign substances,  as  long  as  the  latter  are  reduced  to  a  small  amount 
and  are  of  a  harmless  character. 
