5 SO  Glyceritum  Ferri  Subsulphatis.  {^iff^Stp^ 
GLYCERITUM  FERRI  SUBSULPHATIS. 
By  L.  E.  Sayre,  Ph.G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  October  ai. 
A  liquid  preparation  of  Monsel's  salt,  free  from  acid  or  irritating 
properties,  bearing  a  definite  and  easily  recollected  ratio  of  strength  to 
the  salt  in  question,  with  a  basis  of  glycerin  or  some  other  liquid  as 
capable  of  permeating  tissue,  is  one  of  the  pharmaceutical  wants  of  the 
present  time.  That  such  a  preparation  would  be  appreciated  by  the 
medical  practitioner  needs  no  argument.  To  be  convinced  of  this  it  is 
only  necessary  to  note  the  frequency  with  which  preparations  of  various 
strengths  of  the  substance  in  question  are  prescribed  to  be  compounded 
extemporaneously.  These  combinations  have  grown  greatly  in  favor 
of  late  years  in  the  treatment  of  various  kinds  of  mucous  discharges 
and  chronic  ulcerated  surfaces  where  a  powerful  astringent  effect  is  re- 
quired ;  they  are  highly  commended  by  some  in  the  treatment  of  diph- 
theria. In  vaginal,  rectal  and  local  hemorrhages  they  are  believed  to 
have  advantages  over  the  officinal  solution  in  forming  less  hard  and. 
irritating  clots  when  applied  to  such  delicate  parts.  Such  preparations 
cannot  be  compounded  extemporaneously  from  the  subsulphate  of  iron,, 
which  are  desirable  for  the  physician  or  creditable  to  the  pharmacist. 
The  argument  then  is  greatly  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  a  standard 
preparation  which  would  do  both  justice. 
The  commercial  persulphate  (so  called)  is  found  in  the  shops  in  ax 
yellow  pulverulent  mass,  or  in  powder.  It  is  very  slowly  and  imper- 
fectly soluble  in  water  or  glycerin — it  probably  contains  oxysulphate.- 
Several  samples  of  the  salt  have  been  tried,  and  they  all  proved  incom- 
pletely soluble  in  water  or  glycerin,  either  cold  or  boiling.  The  per- 
fectly soluble  and  deliquescent  Monsel's  salt  can  be  produced  by  evap- 
orating the  officinal  solution  at  a  moderate  temperature  upon  porcelain, 
or  glass  plates  ;  but  this  is  an  unstable  salt  and  very  inconvenient  to 
handle,  its  proneness  to  change  suggests  the  idea  of  making  it  at  once 
into  a  glycerite  of  definite  strength,  so  that  it  may  be  at  once  ready  for 
use,  or  can  be  made  so  by  simple  dilution. 
A  glycerite  containing  fifty  per  cent.,  by  weight,  of  the  salt  fur- 
nishes perhaps  the  most  convenient  form,  and,  furthermore,  one  which, 
possesses  qualities  which  renders  such  a  standard  of  strength  most  de- 
sirable. 
