8o 
Tincture  of  Chloride  of  Iron. 
A.m.  Jour,  Pharna. 
Feb.,  1880. 
composed  ;  and  Mr.  Ellinor  stated  that  kino  which  tinged  the  saliva 
was  the  best  kind,  and  it  never  gelatinized  as  far  as  his  experience 
went.  None  of  the  speakers  expressed  any  faith  in  the  remedy  pro- 
posed by  Mr.  Bamford. 
Although  kino  has  been  repeatedly  the  subject  of  chemical  investi- 
gation, the  conditions  under  which  the  tincture  is  occasionally  trans- 
formed into  a  jelly  have  not  been  determined  ;  but  we  believe  it  is  gen- 
erally admitted  that  a  watery  menstruum  favors  and  alcohol  prevents 
or  retards  the  change.  Most  of  the  European  Pharmacopoeias  use 
alcohol  of  about  '835  specific  gravity  •,  the  French  Codex  directs  6c 
per  cent,  alcohol.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  only  admissible  remedy  is 
the  alcoholic  strength  of  the  menstruum,  until,  by  comparative  experi- 
ments with  kino  of  well  determined  origin  or  properties,  the  effective- 
ness of  other  proposed  remedies  has  been  demonstrated. 
TINCTURE  OF  CHLORIDE  OF  IRON. 
By  G.  H.  Chas.  Klie. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  has  the  tincture  prepared  from  one  part  of  solu- 
tion of  chloride  of  iron  and  three  parts  of  alcohol.  The  solution  of 
chloride  of  iron  is  prepared  by  dissolving  iron  wire  in  hydrochloric  acid 
and  oxidizing  the  iron  by  the  addition  of  sufficient  nitric  acid.  The 
Pharmacopoeia  directs  putting  the  acid  and  iron  wire  together  into 
a  flask  and  letting  the  mixture  stand  until  effervescence  ceases,  then 
heating  to  the  boiling  point,  decanting,  filtering,  etc.  Warmth  or  heat 
will  in  most  instances  dissolve  and,  under  proper  conditions,  keep  in 
solution  more  of  a  given  salt  than  what  will  be  dissolved  at  ordinary 
temperature.  So  in  this  instance,  although  the  mixture,  when  reaction 
has  thoroughly  set  in,  gets  warm,  the  more  concentrated  the  solution 
becomes  the  more  the  reaction  will  diminish,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
warmth  will  decrease,  until  finally  the  whole  cools  off  and  effervescence 
ceases.  If  the  mixture  is  now  heated  to  the  boiling  boint,  effervescence 
re-begins,  and  if  allowed  to  go  on,  it  may  take  an  hour  or  two  before 
it  ceases,  showing  that  by  heating  considerably  more  iron  has  passed 
into  solution.  According  to  the  wording  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  it 
appears  as  if  the  heating  to  the  boiling  point,  decantation,  filtration, 
etc.,  were  to  follow  close  upon  one  another.  If  it  read,  "  Place  the 
mixture  on  a  vapor  or  water  bath  until  effervescence  ceases,  decant., 
filter," etc.,  a  solution  of  chlorideof  lime  havingfull  strength  would  result. 
