SACCHARINE   STRENGTH  OF    SYRUP  OF   IODIDE  OF    IRON.  57 
eligibly  adopted  in  the  preparation  of  the  Dublin  and  London 
Pharmacopoeias.  It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  in  this  partition- 
ing of  the  quantities  of  sugar  and  water,  the  syrup  under  consider- 
ation should  have  formed  a  remarkable  exception  to  this  rule,  as 
there  is  scarcely  another  instance  amongst  those  compounds  where 
the  conservative  character  of  the  compound  depends  more  on  its 
due  proportion  of  sugar.  In  the  Dublin  syrup,  this  deficiency  is 
very  perceptible,  giving  to  it  an  instability  of  character  that  de- 
tracts much  from  its  value,  a  matter  of  no  small  importance  to 
the  dispenser,  as  he  cannot  with  facility  reduce  it  to  his  extem- 
poraneous formulary,  without  incurring  a  certain  amount  of  trouble 
and  some  expense  in  its  preparation,  both  of  which  might  have 
been  readily  obviated  by  a  slight  modification  of  the  present  for- 
mula. This,  no  doubt,  may  be  referred  to  a  desire  of  the  Col- 
lege to  get  rid  of  the  inconveniences  attending  the  solution  of  the 
sugar,  in  the  second  part  of  the  process,  by  the  introduction  of 
simple  syrup,  and  by  this  means  abridge  the  length  of  the  opera- 
tion, and  to  a  certain  extent  divest  it  of  a  portion  of  its  com- 
plexity ;  but  as  this  cannot  be  done  without  proportionately  in- 
creasing the  liquid  portions  of  the  compound,  there  will  be  found 
a  perversion  of  the  object,  as  the  resulting  syrup  is  so  weak  in 
saccharine  strength  as  to  be  most  favorably  disposed  to  decompo- 
sition in  limine.  Indeed,  this  would  scarcely  demand  to  be  demon- 
strated, it  is  so  evident ;  for  as  the  6  fluid  ounces  of  simple  syrup 
employed,  contain  but  5*33  parts  of  sugar  by  weight,  there  will 
be  required  5*33  parts  of  fluid  necessary  to  bring  it  up  to  its  re- 
quired amount,  8  ounces.  If  we  correct  this  deficiency  by  reducing 
this  syrup  to  the  saccharine  strength  of  simple  syrup,  which  should 
properly  form  the  type  of  these  compounds,  the  8  fluid  ounces  in- 
dicated should  possess,  independent  of  its  saline  constituent,  7*11 
parts  of  sugar  by  weight ;  for  as  this  amount  is  represented  by 
1*330  +  8  =  10*64  ounces,  the  proportions  necessary  will  be  7*11 
parts  of  sugar,  and  3.55  of  the  solution  of  iodide  of  iron,  to  oc- 
cupy this  bulk,  showing  a  deficiency  of  1*78  parts  of  sugar  in  the 
present  form,  which  are  necessarily  made  up  by  the  addition  of 
distilled  water.  In  the  London  formula  a  similar  deficiency  is 
found  to  exist,  but  not,  however,  to  the  same  extent  ;  for  were 
we  to  ascribe  the  due  amount  of  sugar  to  the  15  fluid  ounces  of 
