PILLS  OF  IODIDE  OF  IRON. 
139 
ordinary  dose  of  that  medicine,  and  having  made  use  of  them 
in  his  own  case  for  a  considerable  time,  with  advantage,  he  would 
respectfully  recommend  them  to  the  favorable  notice  of  physicians 
and  pharmaceutists.  The  formula  he  employs  is  the  following 
viz : 
Take  of  iodine  (dry).  .  .  .  .  1  oz. 
fine  iron  wire,  cut  in  pieces.  .  .  3  3. 
Sugar  in  powder.  2i  oz. 
Water  1£  fl.  oz. 
Measure  2J  fluid  ounces  of  water  into  a  three  or  four  ounce 
phial,  and  mark  upon  it  the  height  at  which  the  liquid  stands, 
then  pour  out  the  water  and  introduce  the  sugar  in  its  stead. 
Proceed,  with  the  other  ingredients,  to  make  the  solution  of 
iodide  of  iron  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  formula  of  the  U.  S.  P. 
taking  care  to  use  a  flask  or  matrass  of  the  capacity  of  only 
3  or  4  ounces  in  order  to  avoid  waste  of  the  materials.  The  fil- 
ter employed  should  also  be  very  small  (from  one  to  two  inches 
in  depth)  and  its  apex  must  be  protected  by  a  small  cap  of  mus- 
lin, without  which  a  rent  is  almost  certain  to  occur  ;  or,  a  small 
piece  of  fine  linen  or  muslin  might  be  substituted  for  the  double 
filter  thus  formed.  Having  filtered  the  liquid  into  the  sugar, 
shake  the  phial  containing  them,  and  suspend  it  in  a  vessel  of  hot 
water  until  perfect  solution  takes  place.  If  the  product  mea- 
sures less  than  2h  fluid  ounces,  add  simple  syrup  to  make  up  the 
deficiency. 
This  concentrated  syrup  is  four  times  the  strength  of  the  of- 
ficinal solution,  and  should  contain,  by  calculation,  twenty-nine 
grains  of  the  dry  iodide  in  every  fluid  drachm.  As  some  loss 
is,  however,  unavoidable,  the  proportion  is  actually  rather 
less. 
To  prepare  the  pills,  two  fluid  drachms  of  the  concentrated 
syrup  are  to  be  triturated  in  a  mortar,  with  3  drachms  of  powder- 
ed gum  arabic,  and  the  mixture  set  aside  for  several  hours,  during 
which  time  it  acquires  the  consistence  of  very  stiff  paste,  but 
needs  the  addition  of  a  little  more  gum,  which  should  be  worked 
in  by  hand,  to  make  it  into  pills.  When  brought  to  the  proper 
consistence,  it  is  to  be  divided  into  60  pills,  each  of  which  may 
be  assumed  to  contain  the  equivalent  of  8  minims  of  the  officinal 
solution  of  iodide  of  iron.    They  do  not  become  hard  by  keeping; 
