THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
MAY,  1861. 
ON  TINCTURE  AND  FERRATED  TINCTURE  OF  BARK. 
By  Jno.  M.  Maisch. 
Among  the  innumerable  preparations  of  Peruvian  Bark,  one 
called  Ferrated  Tincture  of  Bark,"  has  attracted  a  good  deal 
of  attention.  As  originally  suggested  by  Mr,  S.  Simes,  of  this 
city,  Huxham's  tincture  of  bark  prepared  with  Calisaya  bark, 
is  deprived  of  cinchotannic  acid  by  means  of  freshly  precipitated 
sesquioxide  of  iron,  and  the  filtered  tincture,  thus  altered,  is 
afterwards  finished  by  dissolving  in  it  ammonio-citrate  of  iron. 
Mr.  A.  B.  Taylor,  who  experimented  with  it  at  that  time,  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  but  a  small  quantity  of  iron  was  held  in 
solution  ;  but  after  the  publishing  of  an  analysis  made  by  Booth, 
(Amer.  Journ.  Ph.  1853,  295—402,)  the  whole  subject  has 
apparently  been  left  to  rest.  Parrish's  Practical  Pharmacy, 
page  139,  however,  states,  that  citric  acid  and  the  citrate  dis- 
solved in  the  tincture  produce  a  bulky  precipitate,  which  from  ten 
fluid  ounces  contains  but  3  grains  of  iron. 
In  taking  up  this  subject,  I  have  sought  to  settle  the  matter 
in  a  diiferent  way.  My  investigations  were  in  the  first  place 
directed  to  the  tincture  of  bark. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  various  tinctures  of  cinchona  as  di- 
rected by  our  Pharmacopoeia,  produce  in  a  short  time  a  brownish 
red  precipitate,  which  increases  gradually.  I  believe  that  this 
precipitate  has  generally  been  taken  to  be  cinchona  red,  or  some 
similar  product  of  oxidation,  which,  being  of  little  value,  might  be 
rejected.  As  the  tinctures  are  always  demanded  in  a  clear  and 
transparent  condition,  this  precipitate  is,  of  course,  thrown  aside. 
If  it  is  separated  from  the  clear  liquid  by  filtration,  and  washed 
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