VARIETIES. 
81 
the  facts  stated  above.  As  the  article  is  now  in  common  use 
here,  and  as  its  merits  have  been  fully  recognized  by  medical 
men,  it  seems  but  an  act  of  justice  that  I,  who  first  prepared, 
used,  and  introduced  it  to  the  notice  of  medical  men,  should  have 
due  credit  given  me.  Since  the  first  use  of  the  Oxalate  of  Iron 
it  has  been  ascertained  that,  in  cases  of  excessive  irritability, 
when  ordinary  preparations  of  iron  could  not  be  tolerated,  the 
oxalate  was  taken  with  the  greatest  benefit. 
The  very  beautiful  color  of  the  oxalate  iron  would  at  once 
suggest  its  use  as  a  pigment.  It  does  not  seem  capable  of  mix- 
ing well  with  gum  and  similar  vehicles,  making  a  somewhat 
curdy  result,  but  such  as  it  is  I  have  a  specimen  which,  for 
thirteen  years,  has  kept  quite  unchanged.  With  oil  it  is  so  trans- 
parent as  to  be  utterly  useless. 
From  two  analyses  I  have  found  that  the  salt,  prepared  as 
above  described,  is  without  water  of  crystallization.  This  is  a 
question  which  canbe  easily  determined  by  experiments.*  The 
powder  is  uniformly  crystalline,  and,  from  its  unalterability,  I 
consider  it  one  of  the  best  means  of  obtaining  a  given  quantity 
of  a  proto-salt  of  iron  for  purposes  of  chemical  analyses. 
.Respectfully  yours, 
Geo.  0.  Schaeffer. 
To  Mr.  Gr.  G.  0.  Simms, 
A  valuable  Antiseptic.— If  all  that  Mr.  W.  L.  Scott  claims  for  the-  bi- 
sulphite of  lime  be  realised  in  practice,  it  is  likely  to  be  an  agent  of  whose 
oses  we  may  often  avail  ourselves  in  practice  with  advantage. 
"  Beef-tea  or  broth,  in  hospitals  or  otherwise,  may  be  prevented  from 
turning  sour  by  stirring  in  a  few  drops  of  the  bi-sulphite  of  lime  solution 
seen  the  paper,  and  disclaim  absolutely  any  intention  of  injustice  to  his 
rights  as  a  discoverer  of  the  therapeutic  merits  of  the  oxalate  of  iron. 
On  the  contrary,  when  the  article  of  Mr.  Reynolds  was  copied  into  the 
Journal,  we  asserted  the  claims  of  the  only  name  we  then  knew  in  con- 
nection with  the  medical  use  of  this  salt  at  Washington,  which,  as  the 
paper  of  Mr.  Simms  explains,  was  not  the  correct  one. — Editor.] 
*  According  to  Gmelin  (Handbook,  vol.  ix.,  p.  156,  1855)  artificial 
oxalate  of  protoxide  of  iron  contains  2  eq.  of  water  for  each  eq.  of  base  ; 
whilst  the  native  oxalate  (Humboldtite)  is  only  sesqui-hydric. — Editor. 
6 
