138 
PILLS  OF   IODIDE   OF  IRON. 
discovered  substance  possesses  the  power  of  polarizing  a  ray  of 
light  with  at  least  five  times  the  intensity  that  the  best  tourma- 
line is  capable  of,  and  that  itmust  consequently  be  the  most  power- 
ful polarizing  substance  known.  In  his  paper  in  the  Philosophical 
Magazine,  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  the  above  information, 
Dr.  Herapath  enters  at  great  length  into  the  chemical  characters 
of  this  iodide  of  the  disulphate  of  quinine.  In  his  examination 
of  its  optical  properties,  he  employed  one  of  Oberhauser's  achro- 
matic microscopes,  with  a  half-inch  object-glass  and  No.  2  eye- 
piece ;  a  low  power,  under  100  diameters. — Annals  of  Pharm., 
May  1852. 
PILLS  OF  IODIDE  OF  IRON. 
By  John  Loines. 
The  intensely  styptic  taste  of  the  solution  of  iodide  of  iron  as 
well  as  the  unpleasant  stain  it  imparts  to  the  teeth  and  lips  is 
often  felt  to  be  a  serious  inconvenience  in  the  use  of  this  valu- 
able remedy,  and  has  given  rise  to  considerable  inquiry  by  the 
medical  practitioner  for  some  more  palatable  mode  of  adminis- 
tering the  iodide.  Such,  however,  is  the  nature  of  this  compound, 
that  it  is  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  any  form  of  preparation 
will  supersede  the  salt  with  gum  or  the  combination  of  saccharine 
matter  in  various  proportions.  Meantime  it  has  been  proposed, 
in  order  to  conceal  the  taste  of  the  officinal  solution,  to  enclose 
it  in  capsules,  or,  by  the  addition  of  suitable  substances,  to  make 
of  it  a  mass  capable  of  being  formed  into  pills.  It  has  even 
been  thought  advisable  to  evaporate  the  solution  till  it  should 
acquire  a  suitable  consistence  for  this  purpose.  To  the  capsules 
the  expense  will  probably  be  urged  as  an  objection  by  some,  while 
their  liability  to  leak,  unless  made  with  more  than  ordinary  care, 
will  be  found  a  constant  source  of  complaint.  On  the  other 
hand,  although  it  is  easy  enough,  by  the  addition  of  gum,  to 
make  a  mass  that  can  be  rolled  into  pills,  the  bulk  of  this  adju- 
vant in  connection  with  that  of  the  sugar  already  employed  ren- 
ders the  dose  inconveniently  large.  It  was  in  view  of  these  ob- 
jections that  the  writer,  about  a  year  ago,  devised  the  plan  of 
making  a  very  concentrated  syrup  of  the  iodide  of  iron,  which 
may  be  readily  made  into  pills,  two  or  three  of  which  contain  the 
