120 
Tincture  of  Ferric  Chloride. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1     March,  1885. 
tion  of  the  officinal  tincture,  and  its  employment,  was  radically  wrong 
if  a  strictly  definite  standard  solution  of  the  chemical  was  desired,  and 
there  is  only  one  feature  in  its  use,  that  could  be  construed  as  favor- 
able evidence  toward  its  continuance  and  that  is,  that  the  formation  of 
nitrous  ether  in  the  old  tincture  may  have  had  more  or  less  to  do 
therapeutically  with  its  peculiar  diuretic  action  on  the  human  system, 
but  this  fact  need  not  stand  in  the  way,  for  the  simple  reason  that  if 
such  belief  is  a  true  one,  a  more  definite  quantity  of  spirit  of  nitrous 
ether  (U.  S.  P.,  1880),  may  be  prescribed  in  its  place  with  a  new 
liquor,  than  was  possible  to  obtain  in  the  old  tincture.  With  a  new 
liquor,  a  formula  might  be  constructed  with  spirit  as  of  old,  and  it 
would  possibly  remain  unchanged,  but  that  fact  does  not  nullify  the 
pertinency  of  the  statement,  that  the  employment  of  alcohol  is  both  un- 
necessary and  useless,  and,  serving  as  it  does  no  special  good,  its  use 
may  be  justly  condemned  as  a  positive  waste. 
The  better  way,  it  would  seem,  in  order  to  secure  the  fittest  repre- 
sentative of  the  article  in  question,  would  be  to  receive  the  suggestion 
of  a  diluted  liquor  and  advocate  its  adoption  by  the  Pharmacopoeial 
Committee  of  Revision  in  its  next  session ;  that  method  of  adoption 
consisting  in  the  recognition  of  one  new  Liquor  Ferri  Chloridi,^' 
having  the  same  iron  strength  as  our  present  tincture,  and  also  adding, 
if  wished,  5  per  cent,  of  the  officinal  spirit  of  nitrous  ether  in  lieu  of 
ethyl  nitrite;  and  the  total  discarding  of  the  present  "liquor'^  and 
"  tincture  "  as  both  useless  and  unnecessary.  In  this  way  all  error  and 
possible  confusion,  incidental  to  the  changes,  could  be  overcome,  and 
the  general  usefulness  of  the  chloride  continued  in  active  force. 
Samples  of  the  several  liquids  previously  referred  to  are  presented. 
The  first  one  is  the  officinal  liquor — a  37*8  per  cent,  solution  of  ferric 
chloride.  It  is  a  deep  reddish-brown  liquid,  having  an  acid  strongly 
styptic  taste  and  an  acid  reaction.  The  second  is  a  tincture,  U.  S.  P. 
strength.  It  is  a  yellowish -brown  liquid,  destitute  of  etherial  odor, 
possessing  an  astringenj:  styptic  taste  and  an  acid  reaction.  The  third 
is  a  diluted  liquor  of  tincture  strength.  It  is  a  bright  yellowish  liquid, 
acid  in  reaction  and  of  styptic  taste.  The  fourth  is  a  diluted  liquor, 
tincture  strength,  containing  5  per  cent,  of  spirit  of  nitrous  ether 
(U.  S.  P.,  1880),  which  has  been  added  to  it  in  the  cold.  A  dark  red- 
dish-brown liquid  of  etherial  odor,  which  on  stimding,  eventually,  be- 
comes of  lighter  color.  Properties,  the  same  in  general,  as  the  preced- 
ing liquids.    The  fifth  and  last  is  a  diluted  liquor,  in  which  the  5  per 
