348 
ON  SOME  FRENCH  PHARMACEUTICAL  SPECIALITIES. 
Thinking  it  probable  that  Mr.  Kemp,  from  the  favorable  posi- 
tion occupied  by  him  in  Paris,  might  be  able  to  contribute  some 
interesting  information  connected  with  French  pharmacy,  I  some 
time  since  wrote  to  him  on  the  subject.  In  reply,  he  promised 
to  do  so  ;  and,  in  February,  I  had  a  letter  from  him,  in  which  he 
says  :  «  The  usual  pressure  of  business  at  this  season  has  pre- 
vented me  fulfilling  my  promise  until  now  of  sending  you  some 
matter  or  other  for  communication  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Socie- 
ty ;  I  hope,  however,  it  is  not  yet  too  late  for  the  season.  Find- 
ing it  quite  out  of  my  power  at  this  time  to  get  up  anything  like 
a  scientific  article,  I  have  sent  one  or  two  specimens  of  French 
Specialities,  with  a  written  notice  of  each,  which  may  possibly 
interest  some  of  the  members  of  the  Society."  He  continues: 
"  I  am  really  sorry  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  send  you  some- 
thing more  deserving  of  your  attention  ;  but  I  think  I  may  prom- 
ise you  some  matter  possessing  the  merit  of  originality,  if  I  am 
spared  till  next  season."    In  continuation,  he  writes  : 
"  This  communication  is  not  intended  as  more  than  a  descrip- 
tive notice  of  the  few  specimens  of  French  Pharmaceutical  Spe- 
cialities which  it  accompanies.  These  are  only  a  selection  of  the 
most  elegant,  from  a  vast  number  of  others  well  known  in  France, 
and  many  of  which  are  a  source  of  no  little  pecuniary  gain  to 
their  proprietors. 
"  Those  of  the  selection  in  the  form  of  pills  are  three  in  num- 
ber ;  two  of  them  preparations  of  iron,  and  the  third  of  digita- 
line. 
"  The  •'  Pilules  de  Vallet,'  or  Vallet's  Pills,  contain  the  proto- 
carbonate  of  iron  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation.  This  is  ef- 
fected by  the  following  process  : — The  sulphate  of  iron  and  car- 
bonate of  soda  are  dissolved  in  water  containing  a  sixteenth  of 
its  weight  of  simple  syrup  ;  the  precipitate,  washed  with  water 
and  syrup  in  the  same  proportions,  and  expressed  in  a  cloth  sat- 
urated with  syrup,  is  well  mixed  with  honey,  and  evaporated  to 
a  proper  consistence  for  pills  ;  the  pills  are  afterwards  silvered 
and  kept  in  bottles,  and  contain  each  about  a  quarter  of  a  grain 
of  proto-carbonate  of  iron  along  with  a  little  inert  powder. 
They  are  beautifully  finished,  and  preserve  their  shape  for  any 
time. 
«  The  «  Pilules  de  Blanchard'  contain  the  protoiodide  of  iron. 
