72 
Syrup  of  F err  oil  s  Iodide. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1    February,  1903. 
bringing  up  the  subject  is  a  desire  to  relate  his  personal  experience 
with  it,  and,  if  possible,  have  its  excellent  properties  of  preserving 
syrup  of  ferrous  iodide  made  more  widely  known  and  its  use 
adopted. 
Before  entering  upon  a  discussion  of  the  merits  of  hypophospho- 
rous  acid  as  a  preservative  of  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide,  the  writer 
wishes  to  state,  that  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide,  when  carefully  pre- 
pared and  kept  in  small  bottles  completely  filled,  and  stoppered 
with  paraffined  corks,  will  keep  indefinitely,  whether  it  be  kept  in 
the  sunlight  or  in  the  dark. 
Some  years  ago,  a  quantity  of  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide  was  pre- 
pared and  transferred  to  I  -ounce  bottles,  each  of  which  was 
wrapped  in  newspaper  and  the  whole  packed  in  an  empty  cigar- 
box,  which  was  then  placed  in  the  stairway  leading  to  the  cel- 
lar. When  the  last  of  the  lot  was  used,  which  was  then  eight 
months  old,  it  was  in  as  good  condition  as  when  first  made. 
This,  no  doubt,  accounts  for  the  contradictory  results  obtained  by 
different  experimenters  with  such  preservatives  as  glucose,  tartaric 
acid  and  citric  acid.  These  substances  will  preserve  the  syrup,  if 
the  above-given  conditions  of  keeping  be  observed ;  but,  if  those 
conditions  be  observed,  the  use  of  glucose,  tartaric  acid  and  citric 
acid  is  superfluous ;  if  they  be  not  observed,  the  use  of  these  pre- 
servatives  seems  to  be  useless.  Mr.  W.  H.  Pile,  in  the  "  Proceedings 
of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,"  for  the  year  1877, 
reports  his  experience  with  citric  acid  as  follows  :  "  I  have  made 
comparative  trials  with  and  without  the  addition  of  citric  acid,  and 
several  times  during  the  year,  but  from  some  unknown  cause,  or 
want  of  skill  on  my  part,  I  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  making  a 
syrup  unchangeable  in  appearance  by  the  addition  of  citric  acid,  as 
recommended,  unless  the  syrup  thus  prepared  was  kept  in  full  vials 
and  sealed ;  but  in  this  way  no  addition  appears  to  be  necessary." 
The  sample  of  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide  here  exhibited  is  the  bal- 
ance of  an  8-ounce  lot  of  syrup  prepared  on  the  eighth  day  of 
August,  this  year;  it  is  therefore  over  four  months  olds.  The  syrup 
was  prepared  according  to  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopceial  formula  and 
directions,  with  the  exception  that  I  fluid  dram  of  diluted  hypophos- 
phorous  acid  (10  per  cent.)  was  added  to  8  fluid  ounces  of  the  finished 
syrup,  and  instead  of  storing  it  in  small,  well-stoppered  and  com- 
pletely filled  bottles,  as  directed,  the  whole  quantity  was  transferred 
