120 
ON THE USE OF LACTATE OF IRON. 
hours to each patient, who should continue their use for eight 
or fifteen days. 
Each chlorotic patient treated by M. Bouillaud had used for 
the re-establishment of health, as an average, about six to eight 
grammes of lactate of iron. All had perfectly borne its use. 
A remarkable augmentation of the appetite was one of the first 
effects perceived. 
M. Bouillaud, depending on the results of the trials of his 
colleagues and his own observation, terminates his report by 
concluding that clinical research permits us, for the present, to 
rank the lactate of iron as among the most useful of the ferru- 
ginous preparations. ' F. B. 
Jour, de Phar. 
ART. XX.— PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE LAC- 
TATE OF PROTOXIDE OF IRON. By M. Louradour, Phar- 
macien. 
M. Louradour extracts the lactic acid from the whey 
which he collects from the dairies in the neighborhood of Paris, 
where much cheese is made. This whey, exposed a long time 
to fermentation under thejnfluence of an elevated temperature, 
becomes charged with a large quantity of lactic acid. It is eva- 
porated to one-third or one-fourth of its volume, decanted and 
filtered ; and is then saturated with milk of lime, which pro- 
duces an abundant deposit chiefly of phosphate of lime. The 
filtered solution is precipitated by oxalic acid, and again 
filtered, and then concentrated to a syrupy consistence. It is 
now diluted with alcohol, which precipitates the lactine and 
the salts. The solution on being filtered and the alcohol dis- 
tilled oflf, yields pure lactic acid. The lactate of the protoxide 
of iron is prepared by digesting on a sand bath, at a low tem- 
perature, this acid diluted with water upon iron filings. At 
