158 
EFFERVESCING  CARBONATE  OF  IRON. 
readers  are  anxious  to  know  the  exact  mode  of  forming  these 
elegant  aperients,  we  insert  Dr.  T.  Skinner's  formula  for  this 
preparation. 
B    Acid.  Tart.,  3iij. 
Sod.  Bicarb.,  ^v. 
Ferri  Sulphas.,  gx. 
Pulv.  Sacch.  Alb.,  ^i.  gvi. 
Acid.  Citric,  gij. 
First.  Mix  the  sulphate  of  iron  with  the  sugar,  and  part  of 
the  tartaric  acid. 
Secondly.  Mix  the  citric  acid  with  the  remainder  of  the 
tartaric  acid,  and  bicarbonate. 
Thirdly.  Stir  the  two  mixtures  together,  and  thoroughly  unite 
them  by  sifting. 
Lastly.  Put  the  whole  into  an  open  metal  vessel  in  a  water 
bath,  and  stir  until  it  is  well  granulated.  In  these  proportions 
there  are  ten  grains  of  sulphate  of  iron  in  every  drachm  and  a 
half;  this  will  produce,  by  double  decomposition,  four  grains  of 
pure  protocarbonate  of  iron. 
It  is  also  needless  to  observe  that  the  materials  employed 
should  be  finely  powdered,  very  dry,  and  that  the  preparation 
should  be  kept  from  the  air  and  moisture  by  being  preserved  in 
well-stopped  bottles. 
We  believe  that  the  more  frequent  employment  of  remedies  of 
an  elegant  and  unobjectionable  form  is  of  more  importance  than 
is  frequently  imagined — a  patient  often  refusing  to  take  nause- 
ous though  perhaps  important  medicines  who  would  readily  take 
the  same  remedies  in  a  less  objectionable  form  ;  hence  we  are 
always  glad  to  notice  any  improvement,  having  for  its  object  the 
rendering  of  medicaments  less  obnoxious  to  the  palate.  Under 
this  class  of  improvements  we  may  rank  the  two  extremely 
elegant  compounds  named  at  the  head  of  this  notice ;  they  are 
white  granular  solids,  rapidly  dissolving  in  water  with  brisk  and 
lively  effervescence,  and  furnishing  clean,  transparent,  colorless 
solutions  of  a  really  pleasant  and  tonic  taste. 
The  more  simple  contains  one  grain  of  citrate  of  quinine  to 
each  dram,  and  the  other  possesses,  in  addition,  two  grains  of 
citrate  of  iron. 
The  preparations  are  obviously  very  carefully  made,  and  are 
