386 
New  Syrup  of  Iodide  of  Iron. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(    Sept.  1, 1873. 
very  best  alterative  and  tonic  preparations  ;  yet  the  objections  to  its 
use  are  numerous,  and  were  it  not  for  its  intrinsic  merit  it  would 
have  slept  long  ago  in  an  unhonored  grave ;  it  is  always  unpleasant 
to  take,  even  when  freshly  prepared,  and  becomes  more  so  as  it  gets 
older. 
In  practice,  but  few  pharmacists  prepare  their  own  syrup ;  reliance 
is  placed  on  the  general  market,  and  the  results,  of  course,  are  vari- 
able. A  syrup  one  week  or  two  years  old  may  be  purchased,  pos- 
sessing various  degrees  of  color  and  acridity  (agreeing  better,  however, 
in  the  latter  quality),  and  neither  the  patient  nor  physician  are  pro- 
bably aware  of  the  cause,  and  practitioners  are  frequently  debarred 
from  prescribing  for  delicate  persons  and  children  on  account  of  the 
disturbance  to  the  digestive  organs. 
The  new  syrup  of  the  iodide  of  iron  does,  in  the  writer's  opinion, 
remove  the  objection  to  the  old  preparation.  It  has  fallen  to  my  lot 
to  make  about  twelve  gallons  of  the  improved  syrup  at  various  times* 
which  has  been  dispensed,  and  has  been  used  by  physicians  in  their 
practice  for  the  usual  diseases  where  the  old  syrup  was  indicated. 
It  seems  to  answer  well  in  scrofulous  and  syphilitic  diseases,  in  ob- 
stinate skin  affections,  and  as  an  internal  remedy  where  morbid 
secretions  of  the  glands  exist,  but  particularly  for  delicate  females 
and  children  of  scrofulous  habit  requiring  an  alterative  tonic.  Its 
taste  is  pleasant,  the  teeth  are  not  discolored  and  the  digestive  func- 
tions were  not  disturbed  by  its  use  in  any  of  the  cases  that  were  re- 
ported. A  formula  for  the  preparation  is  subjoined,  which  is  based 
on  the  researches  of  Creuse  in  this  direction. 
New  Syrup  of  the  Iodide  of  Iron. 
Take  of— 
Re-sublimed  iodine,         .        .        .        378*9  grains. 
Iron  wire  (card  teeth).        ...      90  " 
Distilled  water,       ....  2  fluid-ounces. 
Citric  acid  (dry),         ....    408  grains. 
Potassium  carbonate  (pure),  .  .  475  "  or  q.  s. 
Weigh  accurately  252*6  grains  of  the  iodine,  and  place  in  a  beaker 
or  flask  of  at  least  four  fluid-ounce  capacity,  then  add  to  it  the  card 
teeth  and  half  a  fluid-ounce  of  distilled  water,  cover  the  beaker  with 
a  watch  glass,  and  agitate  occasionally  until  the  liquid  has  acquired  a 
green  color  and  lost  the  smell  of  iodine  (care  should  be  taken  about 
