80 
USE  OF  OXALATE  OF  IRON  IN  MEDICINE. 
made  of  it,  this  is  still  the  favorite  mode  of  administration. 
I  soon  found  that,  in  doses  of  two  to  three  grains  thrice  a 
day,  all  the  tonic  effects  of  iron  were  more  rapidly  produced 
upon  the  system,  than  by  any  ordinary  dose  of  the  iron  pre- 
paration which  I  had  used.  It  was  quite  easy,  by  increasing 
the  quantity,  to  stimulate  the  capillary  circulation  to  the  extent 
of  producing  an  itching  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  body.  In- 
stead of  being  astringent,  with  inactivity  of  the  bowels  origin- 
ating from  want  of  tone,  it  soon  produced  healthy  and  natural 
passages.  The  prolonged  use  of  this  oxalate  will,  however,  give 
rise  to  a  peculiar  kind  of  astringent  action  which  should  be  taken 
into  consideration. 
Having  thus  satisfied  myself  that  the  Oxalate  of  Iron  would 
prove  a  useful  article  of  the  Materia  Medica,  it  was  communi- 
cated to  some  of  my  medical  friends,  and  ever  since  then  it 
has  been  in  constant  use  in  this  city. 
Several  years  ago  a  gentleman  of  this  place  requested  an  account 
of  this  article  to  be  read  before  the  National  Pharmaceutical  Con- 
vention, meeting  that  year  in  Philadelphia.  My  friend,  Dr.  Craig, 
who,  had  become  interested  in  the  matter,  was  asked  by  me  to  pre- 
pare this  notice,  which  I  did  not  wish  to  make  myself.  The  paper, 
it  seems,  was  never  read,  but  the  preparation  excited  some  atten- 
tion. In  the  March  number  of  the  American  Journal  of  Phar- 
macy, for  this  year,  there  is  an  article,  "  Oxalate  of  Iron — a 
New  Tonic,"  in  which  this  same  substance  is  noticed,  as  prepared 
in  a  far  less  economical  and  perfect  way.  A  note  by  the 
editor  gives  credit  to  Dr.  Craig  for  having  "  recommended 
it  as  far  back  as  1858."*  This  mistake  has  no  doubt  arisen  from 
*  [In  a  note  received  by  the  Editor,  dated  September  5,  1867,  referring 
to  the  foot  note  in  this  Journal,  above  alluded  to,  he  says  :  "The  only 
occasion  on  which  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you,  I  took  the  means 
of  calling  your  attention  to  a  notice  prepared  by  Dr.  Craig  of  my  intro- 
duction of  this  substance  into  the  Materia  Medica  in  the  year  1854.  I 
never  could  learn  why  the  notice  sent  to  the  Annual  Meeting  in  Phila- 
delphia was  not  published.  That  I  called  your  attention  to  it,  as  above 
mentioned,  I  am  quite  certain."  Now,  we  do  not  doubt  that  Dr.  Schaeffer 
states  the  facts,  nor  do  we  understand  that  he  means  to  infer  that  the 
"  notice  "  was  placed  in  our  hands,  but  certain  it  is,  at  this  late  date,  we 
have  no  recollection  whatever,  either  of  the  interview  or  of  ever  having 
