THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JPRIL,  1880. 
ALBUMINATE  OF  IRON. 
By  C.  Lewis  Diehl. 
Among  the  ferric  compounds  introduced  during  the  past  few  years, 
albuminate  of  iron  has  attracted  some  attention  abroad,  but  has  been 
noticed  only  to  a  limited  extent  in  the  United  States,  if  I  may  be 
allowed  to  judge  by  the  demand  for  it  in  this  locality.  Recently,  how- 
ever, I  was  called  upon  to  prepare  a  solution  of  albuminate  of  iron  by 
a  formula  suggested  by  Dr.  W.  Donitz,  of  Tokio,  Japan.  This  for- 
mula differed  so  radically  from  those  that  had  previously  come  under 
my  observation,  both  in  the  manipulation  directed  and  the  proportion  of 
ferric  chloride  and  egg  albumen  employed,  that  I  was  led  to  make  some 
comparisons,  and  eventually  a  series  of  experiments,  during  the  course 
of  which  some  facts  were  developed  that  seem  to  merit  publication. 
But  before  giving  these  experiments  in  detail  a  brief  review  of  the 
methods  and  experiments  that  have  been  made  public,  or  as  far  as  they 
have  come  under  my  observation,  is  necessary;  and  it  is  also  necessary 
to  explain  that,  in  so  far  as  the  method  of  Dr.  H.  Hager  is  concerned, 
which  anticipates  me  in  the  application  of  common  salt  to  the  precipi- 
tation of  the  ferric  compound,  but  differs  widely  in  some  particulars,  I 
had  no  knowledge  of  it  at  the  time  my  method  was  developed. 
Friese^  first  recommended  albuminate  of  iron  for  the  treatment  of 
chlorosis,  rhachitis,  etc.  He  obtained  it  by  adding  10  grams  of  liq. 
ferri  sesquichlor.,  Phar.  Ger.,  to  the  white  of  one  egg,  washing  the 
precipitate  with  distilled  water  until  the  excess  of  ferric  chloride  was 
removed,  then  macerating  the  residue  for  24  hours  in  500  cc.  of  dis- 
tilled water  and  12  drops  of  hydrochloric  acid  to  effect  solution,  The 
albuminate  of  iron  so  produced  is  said  to  contain  2*8  per  cent.  iron. 
KobligP  observed  that  an  albuminate  containing  uniformly  as  much 
iron  as  stated  by  Friese  cannot  be  obtained.     Also,  that  the  albuminate 
^"Berlin.  Klin.  Wochenschr.,"  1877;  "Phar.  Centralh.,"  Aug.  2,  1877,  p.  251. 
^"Schweiz.  Wochenschr.  f.  Phar.,"  1877,  No.  47,  p.  381. 
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