ON THE SYRUP OF IODIDE OF IRON. 
101 
ART. XXXri. ON THE SYRUP OF IODIDE OF IRON 
By Messrs. T. and H. Smith, Edinburgh. 
Most of the processes for syrup of iodide of iron which 
have hitherto come under our notice, appear to us unneces- 
sarily tedious and complicated; although in the whole range 
of preparations included in the compass of the Pharmaco- 
poeias there is not, perhaps, a single one in which such a 
state of matters should be more carefully avoided. Con- 
sistently with correct adherence in the constitution of the 
resulting compound to the recognised formula, every effort 
should be made to render the operation simple, easy, and, 
above all, of speedy execution. The solution of iodide of 
iron before combination with the sugar in the form of syrup, 
is decomposed with such rapidity, that the eye can easily 
trace the changes of colour and appearance by which the 
decomposition is accompanied. The liquid from being 
quite transparent and almost colourless passes through 
deeper and deeper shades of green to brownish red, and in 
an amazingly short time is entirely decomposed and quite 
muddy from an abundant ferruginous precipitate. After a 
sufficient quantity of sugar has been dissolved in the solu- 
tion to form a syrup, these changes are almost entirely ar- 
rested ; so that even in an open vessel many days intervene 
before any striking alteration of colour can be remarked. 
The process used by us for the syrup of iodide of iron is 
a modification of the formula of the Edinburgh Pharmaco- 
poeia, and, as we have by repeated trials long proved its 
value, it is here given for the use of the readers of the 
Pharmaceutical Journal. 
Let a solution of iodide of iron be made in a flask with 
six hundred grains of iodine, two hundred grains of pure 
iron filings, and six ounces of cold water. The action 
being finished, after smart agitation for a few minutes, let 
the liquid, while yet hot from the intense chemical action, 
