ON  COPPER  AMALGAM. 
203 
ence  to  the  mass,)  that  the  mass  is  too  soft,  the  heat  must  be 
carefully  continued  until  a  pill  when  rolled  out  will  retain  its 
shape  when  cool.  The  introduction  of  the  powdered  iron  in- 
sures the  combination  of  all  the  iodine  during  the  evaporation, 
and  is  in  such  excess  as  to  continue  its  preservative  influence 
after  the  ingestion  of  the  pill. 
The  coating  of  tolu,  whilst  it  does  not  prevent  the  action  of 
the  gastric  fluids  in  disintegrating  the  pills,  enables  them  to 
reach  the  stomach  without  offending  the  palate  with  the  disa- 
greeable metallic  taste  properly  belonging  to  the  salt. 
ON  COPPER  AMALGAM. 
By  H.  Dussance. 
New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  February  24:th,  1860. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy : 
I  have  read  in  many  scientific  and  medical  Journals  of  the  dis- 
covery of  a  new  alloy,  by  Mr.  Oersheim,  which  alloy  has  plastic 
properties,  and  is  an  amalgam  of  copper.  This  alloy  is  not 
new,  for  in  1853  Professor  Peligot,  in  his  lectures  at  the 
Conservatoire  Imper.  des  Arts  et  Metiers,  at  Paris,  spoke  of  it. 
At  that  time  I  was  his  assistant,  and  prepared  great  quantities 
of  it,  and  analysed  it. 
This  alloy  presents  the  remarkable  property  of  being  soft  when 
recently  prepared,  and  after  a  short  time  it  becomes  so  hard 
that  it  is  difficult  to  break  it  to  analyse  it.  Dentists  used  it  to 
fill  teeth,  but  I  believe  its  use  was  abandoned.  On  account  of 
its  property  of  being  soft  at  first,  its  greatest  use  is  for  the 
moulding  of  medals.  The  best  way  to  prepare  it  is  the  following : 
1st.  Take  sulphate  of  copper  and  dissolve  it  in  water  acidu- 
lated by  a  few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid;  put  in  this  bath  a  sheet 
of  iron  perfectly  clean ;  the  copper  is  precipitated  in  the  form 
of  a  reddish  powder. 
2d.  Wash  that  powder  quickly  with  hot  water,  and  after 
mixing  it  well  in  a  mortar  with  a  few  drops  of  nitrate  of  mercury, 
wash  it  well  again  with  hot  water. 
3d.  Add  mercury  to  it  in  a  mortar,  and  mix  it  well,  until  it 
has  the  form  of  a  paste,  that  can  be  worked  with  the  fingers. 
