Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1891. 
Solution  of  Succinate  of  Iron. 
213 
the  best.  This  is  covered  with  a  circular  piece  of  glass  somewhat 
larger  in  diameter  than  the  beaker.  In  the  centre  of  this  disk 
is  drilled  a  hole  about  ^  to  1  inch  in  diameter,  to  which  is  fitted  a 
perforated  cork  for  carrying  the  thermometer.  Glass  can  be  easily 
drilled  with  an  ordinary  steel  drill,  by  using  a  solution  of  camphor 
in  turpentine  as  a  lubricant.  The  material  to  be  examined  is  placed 
in  a  small  glass  tube,  the  lower  end  of  which  is  drawn  out,  and  is 
tied  by  means  of  thread  to  the  thermometer  bulk.  The  fine  end  of 
the  tube  should  be  cut  or  ground  off  at  an  angle  of  about  45  °.  The 
lower  end  of  the  small  tube  should  not  extend  below  the  bulb  of  the 
thermometer.  The  height  of  the  thermometer  should  be  regulated 
so  as  to  bring  the  bulb  about  the  centre  of  the  beaker.  The  heat 
is  applied,  the  temperature  being  allowed  to  rise  slowly,  by  means  of  a 
sand  bath  or  by  setting  the  beaker  on  an  iron  plate  heated  by  the 
flame. 
No  one  method  will  answer  for  all  substances.  This  plan  gives 
very  uniform,  and,  I  believe,  correct  figures. 
It  possesses  several  advantages,  namely,  being  entirely  of  glass 
there  is  no  unequal  absorption  of  heat  by  certain  parts ;  there  is  an 
entire  absence  of  currents  of  air,  and  there  is  an  unobstructed  view 
of  all  sides  of  the  tube  so  that  observations  as  to  change  of  color, 
shrivelling  of  the  mass,  charring,  etc.,  which  are  especially  desirable 
in  certain  organic  bodies,  as  for  example,  alkaloids,  can  be  easily 
made.  There  are  no  vapors  as  in  a  water  bath,  paraffin  or  acid 
bath  to  affect  the  compound  and  the  vision  of  the  observer. 
SOLUTION  OF  SUCCINATE  OF  IRON. 
By  F.  W.  Haussmann,  Ph.  G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  April  16. 
No  standard  formula  appears  to  have  been  proposed  for  a  solu- 
tion of  the  above  iron  salt,  as  a  search  made  in  a  number  of 
standard  works  of  pharmaceutical  literature  failed  to  reveal  any 
treatise  on  the  subject. 
The  salt  itself,  viewed  from  a  therapeutical  standpoint,  appears 
to  have  no  place  in  our  miteria  medica.  Due  to  its  insolubility  in 
water,  chemists  sometimes  take  advantage  of  its  formation  in  the 
quantitive  estimation  of  iron. 
Insoluble  succinates  are  all  more  or  less  soluble  in  the  presence 
of  acetates  and  this  fact  may  be  utilized  in  the  preparation  of  an 
