*6*?tS^}       Abuses  of  Elegant  Pharmacy.  413 
"  To  trifle  with  the  ferric  chloride  by  using  potassic  citrate  in  such 
cases  would  be  almost  criminal."  He  justly  condemns  the  use  of 
alkaline  citrates,  as  used  in  the  "  tasteless  tincture  chloride  iron." 
In  the  same  article  he  advocates  their  use  in  the  preparation  of  the 
so-called  phosphate  of  iron  and  quinia  elixir,  and  also  for  a  prepara- 
tion to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  "  potassio-citrate  of  the  phosphate 
of  iron."  We  fear  this  name  will  lead  to  a  new  system  of  chemical 
nomenclature,  not  at  present  explained  in  our  test-books. 
In  the  same  article,  both  the  U.  S.  P.  preparations  of  ferric  chlor- 
ide and  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide,  are  sharply  criticized,  and  for  the 
latter,  higher  oxidation,  with  the  use  of  the  inevitable  potassium 
citrate  and  the  improved  formula  of  Prof.  Remington,  recommended. 
The  name  of  "tasteless  syrup  of  iodide  of  iron"  is  unfortunate,  as 
the  preparation  contains  no  iodide  of  iron.  This  can  be  proven  by 
evaporating  to  dryness,  and  washing  upon  a  filter  with  anhydrous 
alcohol.  The  filtrate,  upon  evaporation,  leaves  crystals  of  potassium 
iodide  (this  was  first  shown  in  The  Pharmacist,  1873),  and  shows  the 
decomposition  analogous  to  that  occurring  in  the  U.  S.  P.  ferric  pyro- 
phosphate. 
After  a  thorough  trial  in  the  preparation  of  liquor  ferri  chloridi 
and  syrupus  ferri  iodidi  upon  a  somewhat  extended  scale,  our  opin- 
ion is  that  the  officinal  formulas  will  be  found  difficult  to  improve 
upon.  In  conclusion,  with  all  who  love  Pharmacy,  for  its  own  sake, 
we  join  hands  in  entering  our  protest  against  one  of  the  abuses  of 
elegant  pharmacy. 
[Note  by  the  Editor. — Robiquet  did  not  regard  his  preparation 
as  a  mixture  of  citrate  of  ammonium  and  pyrophosphate  of  iron,  but 
as  a  double  salt,  about  the  correct  composition  of  which,  however,  he 
expressed  no  opinion.  This  view  has  never  been  fully  disproven. 
Many  crystallizable  double  salts  are  decomposed  by  alcohol  and  other 
solvents,  in  which  only  one  of  its  component  salts  is  soluble,  or  which 
contain  the  elements  for  forming  such  a  soluble  compound.  But  even 
if  it  were  proven  that  the  solutions  of  these  iron  salts  with  alkaline 
citrates  did  not  contain  any  double  salt,  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
decomposition  takes  place  in  as  simple  a  manner  as  indicated  by  the 
equations  contained  in  the  above  paper.  By  patient  researches,  ex- 
tending over  a  period  of  eight  or  nine  years  (1854  to  18b'2),  J.  H. 
Gladstone  has  proven  that  mixe  1  solutions  of  two  salts, |of  different 
bases  and  acids,  interchange  them  partly  in  such  a  manner  that  four 
