124 
Iodine-yield'w(j  A kj(E. 
Am.  .Jour.  Pharm. 
Mar.,  1882. 
During  a  few  days  after  its  preparation  it  deposits  a  minute  quan- 
tity of  calcium  sulphate,  from  whicli,  lioweverj  it  may  wholly  be  freed 
by  decantation  or  filtration. 
This  forms  a  clear  and  permanent  solution ;  it  may  be  mixed  with 
simple  syrup,  claret  and  glycerin  in  any  proportions,  but  the  salts  are 
gradually  deposited  from  mixtures  containing  an  appreciable  percent- 
age of  alcohol. — Pharm.  Jour,  and  Tra7is.,  January  21,  1882. 
IODINE-YIELDING  ALG.I^— A  PROPOSAL  FOR  THEIR 
MORE  DIRECT  USE  IN  PHARMACY. 
By  James  Wheeler. 
Head  at  an  Evening  Meeting  of  the  PliarmaceutiGal  Society^  Feb.  1,  1882. 
Some  four  years  ago  a  London  physician  having  described  the  topi- 
cal employment  of  Fucus  vesiculosus  in  the  case  of  a  patient  living  far 
Inland,  the  writer  was  communicated  with,  and,  by  arrangement, 
undertook  for  a  lengthened  period  the  forwarding  of  the  required  sup- 
ply of  fresh  fronds — the  upper  one-third  being  the  part  selected. 
Since  that  time,  circumstances  having  brought  the  writer  to  a  part 
of  the  coast  where  algse  are  to  be  seen  in  greater  variety  and  luxuri- 
ance than  he  had  ever  before  had  experience  of,  he  was  led  upon  reflec- 
tion to  question  why  Fucus  vesiculosus  obtained,  as  a  remedial  agent, 
a  monopoly  of  favor,  both  with  the  profession  and  with  the  general 
public. 
Starting  thereat  with  the  assumption  that  the  relative  therapeutic 
value  of  the  various  algse  would  be  found  to  be  in  proportion  to  their 
contained  iodine,  and,  furthermore,  that  this  element  might  also  be 
probably  possessed  by  them  in  the  ratio  of  their  more  or  less  total 
submergence  at  all  states  of  the  tide,  he  was,  by  mere  curiosity,  led  to 
look  up  the  literature  of  the  subject  in  so  far  as  his  too  slender  library 
afforded  the  means.  Sufficient  to  say  that  Muspratt^s  "  Chemistry  — 
article.  Iodine ;  Stille  and  Maisch's  "  National  Disj^ensatory  — articles, 
Fucus  vesiculosus  and  Chondrus  crispus  ;  together  with  the  manuals  of 
materia  medica  and  chemistry  common  to  all  pharmacies,  failed  to 
supply  other  than  conflicting  information  concerning  the  percentages 
of  iodine  yielded  by  the  various  kelp-j^roducing  algae.  Indeed,  it 
may,  perhaps,  be  reasonably  questioned  whether,  in  the  light  of  mod- 
