Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  i 
Feb.,  1810.  J 
Wine  of  Beef  and  Iron. 
8  i 
sometimes  sold  warrants  the  suspicion  that  in  many  instances 
a  very  cheap  wine  is  used.  As  to  the  extract  of  beef,  Hager 
states  that  io'O  of  extract  and  250*0  of  fresh  beef  are  con- 
sidered equivalent  and  on  this  basis  the  fluid  ounce  then 
should  contain  about  38  grains  of  the  extract.  In  making 
the  preparation  we  find  that  the  latter  is  not  completely 
soluble  in  the  wine  and  on  standing  precipitation  continues 
for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  A  manufacturer  may 
thus  send  out  a  quantity  in  good  condition  but  by  the  time  it 
reaches  the  dispenser  or  consumer  it  contains  an  unsightly 
precipitate.  To  obviate  this,  some  seem  to  adopt  the  very 
radical  and  economical  method  of  leaving  out  the  beef. 
Others  put  in  as  much  as  they  safely  can  and  bravely  face  any 
complaints,  or  again  it  is  stored  away  until  precipitation 
ceases  before  being  put  upon  the  market.  In  one  instance 
that  has  come  under  the  author's  notice  the  maker  evidently 
diluted  the  wine — perhaps  to  furnish  a  better  solvent — and 
finally  forgot  to  put  in  the  beef.  These  remarks  must  not  be 
understood  as  applying  solely  to  the  large  manufacturers,  but 
also  to  the  many  smaller  firms  and  individuals  that  make  a 
specialty  of  this  preparation. 
While  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  estimate  the  iron  it 
becomes  a  matter  of  extreme  difficulty  to  determine  with 
exactness  the  quantity  of  beef  in  such  a  mixture.  An  approxi- 
mate estimation,  however,  of  the  quality  of  a  sample  can  be 
made  with  the  ordinary  apparatus  of  the  laboratory. 
In  the  samples  under  examination  determinations  were 
made  of  the  specific  gravity,  of  alcohol,  solids,  ash,  iron, 
phosphoric  acid,  the  amount  insoluble  in  alcohol  and  its  ash 
and  total  nitrogen.    I  will  briefly  outline  the  methods  used. 
The  specific  gravity  was  taken  with  the  bottle  at  200  C, 
this  temperature  being  adopted  as  more  convenient. 
The  percentage  of  alcohol  was  determined  according  to 
the  method  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  where  the  quantity  at 
hand  was  sufficiently  large,  a  definite  volume  was  distilled, 
both  distillate  and  residue  made  up  to  the  original  volume 
and  the  alcohol  calculated  from  their  respective  specific  gravi- 
ties, taking  the  mean  of  the  two  results,  as  recommended  by 
Allen. 
