506 
Compound  Iron  Mixture, 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm  . 
\    Nov.  1.  1871. 
chalybeate  emmenagogues,  and,  consequently,  it  is  the  one  most  fre- 
quently prescribed,  but  it  has  always  been  exposed  to  the  great  ob- 
jection that  its  extemporaneous  preparation  takes  considerable  time, 
and  it  cannot  be  kept  ready  for  use  as  its  character  soon  changes, — 
a  few  hours  making  a  perceptible  difference  in  its  appearance,  even 
if  it  does  not  in  its  medicinal  efficacy.  To  remedy  this  defect,  I  en- 
deavored to  prepare  it  in  a  concentrated  form  in  two  bottles.  After 
a  few  experiments,  I  adopted  the  following  formula,  which  I  have 
used  for  a  number  of  years,  and  the  result  has  been  so  satisfactory 
as  to  leave  nothing  to  be  desired  : — 
I^.    Gum.  Myrrh,  ^ij 
Potas.  Carb. 
Sp.  Myrist.  ^viij 
Aq.  Rosse  ad  ^xx. 
The  myrrh  should  be  carefully  selected — clean  pale  pieces,  pre- 
senting an  opaque  fracture  being  the  best.  Beat  it  as  fine  as  possible 
in  a  large  mortar,  then  add  the  carbonate  of  potash  with  a  little 
rose-water  and  grind  it  to  a  smooth  paste,  gradually  add  about  half 
a  pint  of  rose-water  to  make  a  fine  emulsion,  add  the  spirit  of  nutmeg 
and  as  much  more  rose-water  as  will  make  it  twenty  ounces  ;  preserve 
it  in  a  stoppered  bottle,  labelled  "  Concentrated  Myrrh  Emulsion 
pro  Mist.  Ferri  Co.  sj  to  gj." 
For  the  other  bottle,  boil  2  fluid-ounces  of  distilled  water  in  a  glass 
flask  ;  add  of  sulphate  of  iron,  pure  and  free  from  oxide,  dissolve 
and  filter  it  into  a  6-ounce  bottle  and  fill  it  up  with  simple  syrup ; 
label  it  "  Syrup  of  Sulphate  of  Iron  gr.  j  in  vj,  or  rri  xv  to  each 
ounce  of  Mist.  Ferri  Co." 
These  preparations  will  be  found  very  convenient ;  as  for  each 
ounce  of  the  mixture  you  have  merely  to  measure  3j  of  the  emulsion 
and  ni^xv  of  the  syrup,  dilute  each  with  a  portion  of  rose-water,  mix 
and  nil  the  bottle  with  rose-water,  and  mist,  ferri  co.  of  excellent 
quality  is  made  in  a  few  seconds. 
Both  preparations  keep  well ;  the  quantity  of  spirit  in  the  emulsion 
preserves  it  from  decomposition,  and  it  rather  improves  by  keeping  ; 
and  the  syrup  will  be  found  to  keep  free  from  oxide,  which  the  crys- 
tals rarely  are,  however  pure  they  may  appear  to  be.  It  may  also  be 
used  for  dispensing  sulphate  of  iron  in  other  mixtures,  where  the  sugar 
is  not  an  objection ;  for  this  purpose  I  make  the  above  solution  of  ^j 
of  sulphate  into  an  8-ounce  bottle  of  syrup  ;  this  gives  one  part  of 
