SYRUP  OF  THE  PHOSPHATES  OF  IRON,  ETC. 
177 
action  it  exercises  upon  the  oxides  of  iron,  dissolves  these  blue 
compounds,  forming  with  them  pink  or  red  solutions,  which,  when 
spread  upon  paper,  are  at  first  almost  invisible,  but  gradually 
darken  if  an  excess  of  ferricyanide  has  been  used.  The  final 
color  is  bright  green. 
These  reactions  appear  both  interesting  and  suggestive — in- 
teresting as  affording  other  instances  of  indigo-blue-colored  com- 
pounds of  iron,  to  add  to  those  of  the  tannate,  gallate,  and  phos- 
phate, and  suggestive  as  intimating  the  possibility  that  in  all 
these  ferri-  and  ferro-compounds  of  iron  the  metal  is  in  the  same 
state  of  oxidation  as  it  is  in  these  other  salts  above  alluded  to. — 
London  Chem.  News,  Dec.  14,  1866. 
SYRUP  OF  THE  PHOSPHATES  OF  IRON,  QUINIA  AND 
STRYCHNIA. 
"Dr.  Lyons  has  for  some  time  past  employed,  with,  he  con- 
ceives, very  important  therapeutic  results,  this  powerful  tonic 
combination,  for  which  the  profession  is  mainly  indebted  to  the 
late  Dr.  Eaton,  Professor  of  Materia  Mediea  in  the  University 
of  Glasgow,  and  Professor  Aitken  of  the  Royal  Victoria  Hospi- 
tal, Ketley. 
"  This  concentrated  syrup  of  the  phosphates  is  a  perfectly 
clear  and  liquid  fluid,  slightly  refracting  light  with  the  peculiar 
tint  of  the  quinine  solutions,  and,  viewed  in  mass,  obliquely 
showing  the  bluish  tint  of  the  phosphate  of  iron  held  in  solution. 
It  is  perfectly  miscible  with  distilled  water,  has  a  strong  styptic 
and  distinctly  chalybeate  taste,  and  an  aftertaste  of  quinine.  It 
may  be  exhibited  in  doses  of  twenty  to  forty  and  even  sixty  min- 
ims, diluted  with  water,  according  to  age  and  the  circumstances 
of  the  case.  It  is  well  borne  in  the  majority  of  cases  ;  it  acts  as 
an  invigorating  stomachic,  and  sensibly  improves  appetite  ;  it  is  an 
admirable  general  tonic ;  it  appears  to  be  a  readily  assimilable 
chalybeate,  and  is  thus  well  adapted  for  certain  chlorotic  and 
anaemic  states.  In  the  morbid  states  of  the  nervous  system  which 
precede  and  accompany  the  development  of  the  strumous  diathesis, 
the  influence  of  the  strychnine  salt  appears  to  be  exercised  with 
great  potency  as  a  nervine,  tonic  and  stimulant,  and  it  would  seem 
12 
