314 
ON LIQUOR FERRI NITRATIS. 
Mix the acid with ten fluid ounces of the distilled water in a 
thin wide mouthed bottle, which should be surrounded by water. 
Add the iron gradually, about a drachm at a time, waiting until 
active eflervesence has ceased after each addition before making 
the next. When all the iron has thus been thrown in, filter the 
solution through paper, heat it gently in a capsule or flask, and 
carefully drop in nitric acid followed by stirring or agitation until 
a drop of the solution tested with ammonia yields a red precipitate 
without any tinge of black. Then add distilled water until the li- 
quid measures thirty fluid ounces. The solution should have a 
bright madeira wine color. 
In a paper by Mr. Augustine Duhamel (Amer. Journ. Pharm., 
vol. xvii, July 1845,) the author states that Dr. Hays (of Phila- 
delphia) has been using a saccharine nitrate of iron for several 
years. In a recent conversation with Dr. Hays, he informed 
me that the preparation he uses is a syrup, and does not spoil 
by keeping, and that it is prepared by Mr. Samuel Simes, 
to whom he (Dr. Hays) first suggested the protective agency of 
sugar in reference to nitrate of iron. All who have made the 
syrup of sesqui-nitrate of iron of Duhamel, are aware that it will 
not keep long, and a specimen in my possession exhibits nearly 
the w T hole of the iron as a precipitate. On examining Mr. Simes' 
preparation, it was found to be a thick syrup of a light greenish 
color, perfectly transparent, neutral and to yield a greenish colored 
precipitate with ammonia. These characters at once prove the 
iron to be chiefly in the form of a proto-salt protected by sugar. 
As Mr. Simes declines to communicate his formula for publication, 
and as the testimony of Dr. Hays is strong in favor of its therapeu- 
tic value, I offer the following receipe for making the preparation. 
It requires a particular course of manipulation to dissolve iron 
in nitric acid, without a large portion passing to the higher stage 
of oxidation. If, however, instead of adding the iron in divided 
portions to the nitric acid, we add the nitric acid, more diluted, 
to the iron in great excess, the acid gradually becomes saturated, 
the solution has a light greenish color when filtered, and is pre- 
cipitated of a greenish color by ammonia. It is necessary for the 
solution to stand on the iron for several hours after the last addi- 
tion of acid. 
