AMFeb!t  S?3EM" }     Syrup  of  Phosphate  of  Iron,  etc.  51 
Mr.  Rother  follows  nearly  the  same  process  that  I  have  been  ac- 
customed to  follow,  excepting  he  uses  the  ammonio  citrate,  while  I 
have  heretofore  used  the  citrate  of  potassa;  he  uses  the  tersulphate, 
while  I  have  used  the  subsulphate  of  iron.  I  now  obtain  a  mixed 
syrup  of  proto-  and  sesqui-salt  of  iron,  while  his  is  a  sesqui-salt.  I 
believe  mine  to  be  a  better  medicine — his  a  better  pharmaceutical 
product,  and  applicable  to  a  more  general  use  in  forming  fcrrated 
syrups  and  elixirs,  and  supplying  a  real  desideratum. 
Mr.  Rother  manipulates  thus  : 
R.    Sol.  ferric  sulph.,     .        .        .  .        1  pint. 
Sodium  phosphate,      .       .       .       .       .  17J  oz. 
Sol.  of  ammonium  citrate,        .        .       .       q.  s. 
Sugar,       .       .       .       .       .       .       .  24  oz. 
Water  sufficient. 
Dissolve  the  sodium  phosphate  in  2|  pints  of  water  with  the  aid  of 
heat,  and  pour  into  it  the  solution  of  the  ferric  sulphate  with  constant 
stirring.  After  a  short  repose  transfer  the  magma  to  several  capacious 
filters,  and  wash  it  with  water,  stirring  it  up  occasionally  until  the 
washings  are  nearly  tasteless  ;  now  place  the  washed  magma  in  a 
suitable  evaporating  dish,  add  six  fluid-ounces  of  solution  of  ammo- 
nium citrate  (prepared  so  that  each  ounce  of  the  solution  shall  repre- 
sent half  an  ounce  of  citric  acid,  the  acid  being  slightly  in  excess), 
and  apply  heat.  If  the  precipitate  does  not  completely  dissolve,  add 
a  little  more  solution  of  ammonio-citrate  until  the  solution  becomes 
perfectly  clear  by  the  continuance  of  a  moderate  heat,  then  evaporate 
it  over  a  sand-bath  until  reduced  to  20  fluid-ounces,  add  the  sugar,, 
and  when  this  is  dissolved,  strain  the  syrup  through  muslin  while  hot. 
The  product  must  measure  two  pints.  It  will  then  be  identical  in 
iron  strength  with  the  officinal  solution  of  ferric  citrate  ;  and  four 
minims  of  it  will  represent  about  one  grain  of  dry  ferric  orthophos- 
phate.* 
With  the  syrup  proposed  by  Mr.  Rother,  reliable  ferrated  elixir* 
of  calisaya,  gentian  or  pepsin  can  be  extemporaneously  formed. 
I  regard  the  following  to  be  superior  to  any  elixir  of  the  same  now 
in  market. 
Elixir  Phosphate  of  Iron,  Quinia  mid  Strychnia. 
R.  Syr.  phosh.  of  iron  with  ammonium  citrate,  ,       .  5xviL 
*  Pharmacist,  p.  147  (1872). 
