ON  IODIDE  OP  LIME. 
259 
ON  IODIDE  OF  LIME. 
Dr.  Pidduck  made  a  verbal  communication  on  a  preparation 
of  iodine  which  he  has  been  using  for  some  time  with  success, 
and  which  he  wished  to  bring  under  more  general  notice. 
He  stated  that  the  preparation  was  made,  at  his  request,  by 
Messrs.  Morson,  of  Southampton  Row,  in  1855. 
That  it  consisted  of  iodine  and  lime  in  the  proportion  of  one 
part  of  iodine  and  seven  parts  of  lime  (probably  in  a  similar 
state  of  combination  to  that  of  chlorine  and  lime  in  the  so- 
called  chloride  of  lime),  and  therefore  it  was  named  Iodide  of 
Lime. 
That  the  affinity  being  feeble,  the  salt  required  to  be  kept  in 
a  well  closed  bottle. 
That,  in  solution  in  boiling  water,  the  whole  of  the  iodine  is 
dissolved,  forming  a  permanent  solution,  which  is  not  decom- 
posed by  long  keeping,  nor  by  exposure  to  the  air :  only  a  de- 
posit takes  place  of  the  superfluous  lime  in  the  form  of  a  car- 
bonate. 
That  the  proportions  used  in  the  solution  (of  which  a  specimen 
was  exhibited)  were  one  drachm  of  the  salt  and  one  pint  of  boil- 
ing water,  which,  when  cold,  was  filtered  through  bibulous  paper, 
forming  a  colorless  transparent  solution. 
That  a  drachm  of  the  salt  containing  eight  grains  and  a  half 
of  iodine,  a  fluid  ounce  of  the  solution  contains  half  a  grain  of 
iodine. 
That  the  iodine  in  the  solution  exists  in  the  form  of  iodide  of 
calcium  and  iodate  of  lime. 
6  CaO  +  6I  = 
5  Ca  I  +  Ca  0,  1 05 
That  the  solution  is  decomposed  by  an  acid,  and  the  iodine  is 
set  at  liberty :  hence  the  utility  of  this  form  for  the  administra- 
tion of  iodine,  probably  in  the  state  of  an  oxide. 
That  the  superiority  of  this  preparation  to  the  iodide  of  potas- 
sium consists — 
1.  In  the  comparative  smallness  of  the  dose,  and  in  the  minute 
state  of  its  atomic  division. 
2.  In  its  ready  combination  with  the  blood  and  tissues,  mani- 
fested by  its  alterative  effects. 
