ON THE CARBONATE OF IRON. 
273 
keep it from oxidation after its formation, he proposes to 
combine it with a proper quantity of honey, by which it may 
be converted into a mass of pillular consistence. 
This preparation, from its superior activity and efficacy, 
ought to supercede the precipitated carbonate of the Pharma- 
copoeia; and when its deserts are better known, there can be 
little doubt of its general adoption. 
The following is Vallet's process for making carbonate of 
iron, rendered somewhat more simple, viz. : 
Take of Protosulphate of iron, (pure,) 16 parts, 
Carbonate of soda, (crystallized,) 19 " 
Pure honey, 9 " 
Syrup, a sufficient quantity. 
Dissolve the sulphate in half a gallon of water at the tem- 
perature of 180° Fah., and the carbonate of soda in a like 
quantity; to each of these solutions add four ounces of syrup, 
and then mix them in a jar, which should afterwards be en- 
tirely filled with sweetened water, and the access of the air 
prevented; after the precipitate has subsided, decant the su- 
pernatant fluid, and then wash it with sweetened water, in 
the jar, until deprived of adhering sulphate of soda. After 
the carbonate is thus purified, throw the precipitate on a 
flannel cloth, express forcibly, and mix it with the honey. 
This mixture should then be reduced by evaporation, as ra- 
pidly and carefully as possible, to a pillular consistence. 
Thus prepared, this medicinal carbonate of iron has a dark 
olive color, strong ferruginous taste, contains about thirty per 
cent, of protoxide of iron, and, if carefully prepared, dissolves 
wholly and directly in acids. 
In preparing carbonate of iron, as an agent in the formation 
of other preparations, it is, of course, necessary to dispense 
with the honey, and to use the expressed precipitate as soon 
after it is made as possible, to prevent its being oxidized. 
The particular object of this notice is to call the attention 
of pharmaceutists to the fact, that the carbonate of iron, ob- 
tained by M. Vallet's method, can be applied in the pro- 
