ETHEREAL  TINCTURE  OF  SESQUICHLORIDE  OF  IRON.  461 
table  to  the  stomach.  It  is,  therefore,  desirable  that  we  should 
be  able  to  present  it  in  a  form  as  free  as  possible  from  all  objec- 
tions. 
In  the  German  practice  the  dry  sesquichloride  is  frequently 
prescribed  in  the  form  of  pills,  with  ext.  gentian  and  many  other 
excellent  combinations  ;  but  as  this  preparation  is  not  recognised 
as  officinal  in  the  U.  S.  P.,  it  is  seldom,  if  ever,  made  by  our 
chemists,  or  kept  in  the  shops. 
In  a  note,  under  the  article  on  Tinct.  Ferri  Chlor.,  by  Wood 
k  Bache,  allusion  is  made  to  the  preparation  to  which  I  now 
wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  profession,  under  the  name  of 
Bestucheff's  Tincture,  as  an  article  "  much  used  in  Europe,1 
though  without  giving  very  definite  instructions  as  to  the  mode 
of  making  it.  It  consists  in  a  solution  of  the  green  crystals  of 
sesquichloride  of  iron  in  a  mixture  of  one-third  sulphuric  ether 
and  two-thirds  alcohol. 
The  tincture  thus  made  is  at  first  transparent,  and  of  a  light 
greenish  color,  but  rapidly  becomes  turbid  and  deposits  a  brown- 
ish precipitate. 
This  precipitate  is,  however,  entirely  redissolved,  and  the 
tincture  rendered  perfectly  white  and  transparent,  by  exposure 
for  some  hours  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  in  small  white  glasf 
vessels. 
The  proportion  of  ether  mentioned  by  Wood  &  Bache,  is  one 
to  three  or  four  of  alcohol,  but  that  which  I  have  adopted  is 
taken  from  the  Belgian  Pharmacopoeia,  and  is  the  same  as  pre- 
pared for  several  physicians  in  Philadelphia,  who  have  used  it 
largely.  It  is  certain  that  this  tincture  is  a  much  more  elegant 
one  than  that  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  while  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  perfectly  free  from  acid,  and  possessing  a 
sweetish,  slightly  ferruginous  taste,  instead  of  the  excessive 
astringency  of  the  latter. 
The  formula  for  its  preparation  is  as  follows : 
Pure  iron  filings,    .       .    two  ounces. 
Muriatic  acid,    .     .       .    eight  fluid  ounces. 
Nitric  acid,     .       .       .    four  fluid  drachms. 
Distilled  water,      .       .    four  ounces. 
The  muriatic  acid  and  water  being  mixed  together;  the  iron 
filings  are  dissolved  therein  ;  the  nitric  acid  then  being  added- 
