Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Aug.  1,  1873.  / 
Bromide  of  Zinc. 
367 
Now,  why  should  not  the  bromine  and  the  zinc  be  combined  in  one 
and  the  same  compound,  so  as  to  obtain  the  same  object  (perhaps)  by 
one  prescription  which  has  hitherto  been  sought  by  two  ?  We  have 
the  bromide  of  iron,  the  iodide  of  iron,  the  iodide  of  zinc: — then  why 
not  the  bromide  of  zinc  ?_ 
Such  were  the  considerations  which  led  me  to  propose. the  bromide 
of  zinc  as  probably  (or  possibly)  a  useful  preparation.  Mr.  Willis 
accordingly  prepared  some  by  a  process  similar  to  that  pursued  in 
the  preparation  of  the  other  articles  above  mentioned,  viz.,  by  direct 
combination  of  the  elements  ;  and  the  resulting  compound  being 
deliquescent,  and  apparently  not  very  permanent  in  composition,  it 
was  deemed  best  to  protect  it  from  change  by  means  of  sugar  or  some 
other  agent.  Mr.  Willis  therefore  prepared  a  syrup  of  the  bromide  of 
zinc,  analogous  to  the  syrups  of  the  iodide  and  bromide  of  iron,  and 
of  the  strength  of  one  drachm  of  the  bromide  to  the  fluid-ounce  of 
syrup,  or  grains  to  the  fluidrachm.  Supposing  that  glycerin  would 
answer  still  better  the  object  of  protecting  the  compound  from  change, 
he  also  prepared  a  glycerole,  of  the  same  strength. 
After  these  preparations  had  been  made,  I  was  informed  that  the 
bromide  of  zinc  was  enumerated  in  a  recent  price-list  of  a  New  York 
manufacturing  druggist ;  but  on  a  careful  examination  of  the  most 
recent  works  on  materia  medica  and  therapeutics  accessible  to  me,  as 
well  as  of  the  files  of  five  different  medical  journals,  I  find  no  men- 
tion of  it ;  I  am  therefore  justified  in  inferring  that  it  is  at  least  not 
generally  known  to  the  profession. 
Theory  would  indicate  that  this  compound  would  (or  might)  prove 
useful  in  various  diseases  in  which  a  tonic  and  antispasmodic  remedy 
is  required,  viz.:  epilepsy,  chorea,  hysteria,  neuralgia,  debility  with 
nervous  irritability,  sleeplessness,  etc.  I  regret,  however,  that  I  am 
as  yet  unable  to  furnish  any  clinical  proof  of  its  therapeutic  value 
from  my  own  experience,  no  case  having  recently  presented  itself 
which  I  thought  suitable  for  a  trial  of  it.  I  may  refer,  however,  to 
a  case  recently  under  treatment  in  the  hospital  of  the  Medical  Col- 
lege, in  which  it  was  used  with  apparent  benefit.  The  patient  was 
an  adult  female  laboring  under  hysteria,  with  singular  involuntary 
movements,  not  identical  with  those  of  chorea,  but  probably  akin  to 
them  in  nature,  for  which  she  had  been  subjected  to  various  treatment 
without  success.  Dr.  Taliaferro,  the  resident  physician,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  Prof.  McGuire,  who  was  directing  the  treatment  of  the  case, 
