i 
THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
MARCH,  1878. 
LIQUOR  FERRI,  PEROXYCHLORIDE  OF  IRON,  DIA- 
LYZED  IRON,  CATALYTIC  IRON. 
By  Emil  Scheffer. 
(Read  at  the  February  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Louisville  College  of  Pharmacy.) 
The  different  views  regarding  the  composition  of  dialyzed  iron,  of 
whose  preparation  a  great  deal  has  been  written  in  our  periodicals  for 
the  last  twelve  months,  induced  the  writer  to  make  a  series  of  experi- 
ments which  will  no  doubt  throw  some  light  on  the  subject  and  also 
show  the  relation  of  peroxychloride  of  iron,  dialyzed  iron  and  catalytic 
iron. 
By  precipitating  a  solution  of  ferric  chloride  with  ammonia,  the  pre- 
cipitate differs  according  to  the  quantity  of  ammonia  used  as  precipi- 
tant. Ammonia  added  as  long  as  a  precipitate  is  formed  yields  an 
oxychloride,  and  the  liquid  above  the  precipitate  has  acid  reaction. 
Ammonia  added  carefully  until  the  supernatant  liquid  has  become  per- 
fectly neutral  produces  a  more  basic  oxychloride.  Ammonia  added  to 
excess  yields  a  precipitate  free  of  chlorine  but  containing  ammonia.  Of 
these  three  pecipitates  the  two  first  ones  are  soluble  in  water,  the  third 
one  is  insoluble. 
In  the  following  experiments  300  cc.  of  the  officinal  ferric  chloride 
solution  were  diluted  with  water  to  1,500  cc,  and  150  cc.  of  this 
dilute  solution  were  taken  for  each  experiment.  The  ammonia  was 
also  diluted  with  water,  but  spec.  grav.  was  not  taken,  as  it  was  not 
deemed  necessary. 
a.  To  150  cc.  of  the  dilute  ferric  chloride  solution  dilute  ammonia 
was  added,  in  small  quantities  at  a  time,  to  saturation,  that  is,  to  the 
point  at  which  a  further  addition  of  ammonia  produced  a  permanent 
precipitate.  To  effect  this,  81*3  cc.  of  ammonia  were  required;  the 
smallest  quantity  of  ammonia  added  now  produces  a  copious  precipi- 
tate, and  on  an  addition  of  1*7  cc.  more,  or  about  two  per  cent,  of 
7 
