178 
Albuminate  of  Iron. 
i  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      April,  i£8o. 
IS  somewhat  soluble  in  water,  and  that  therefore  it  should  not  be  mixed 
with  large  quantities  of  that  fluid,  but  should  be  washed  upon  a  filter  as 
long  as  the  water  passes  clear. 
Bernbeck^  makes  the  same  observation  as  Kobligk  regarding  the 
solubility  of  the  albuminate  produced  by  Friese's  method,  but  ascribes 
the  solubility  to  the  excess  of  hydrochloric  acid  in  the  officinal  (Phar. 
Ger.)  solution  of  ferric  chloride.  He  recommends  that  6  parts  of  dry 
ferric  chloride,  obtained  by  evaporating  the  officinal  (Phar.  Ger.)  liquor, 
be  dissolved  in  lo  parts  of  distilled  water,  the  solution  filtered  and  mixed 
intimately  with  20  parts  of  albumen  ;  the  brown-yellow  magma  is  trans- 
ferred to  a  wetted  cloth,  expressed  with  the  hands,  and  this  is  repeated 
with  the  addition  of  distilled  water  until  the  excess  of  ferric  chloride  is 
removed.  The  residue  is  then  dissolved  by  macerating  it  for  one  or 
two  days  in  half  a  liter  of  water  containing  i2  drops  of  muriatic  acid. 
By  parts,  the  author  evidently  means  grams;  by  albumen,  the  white  of 
eggs. 
Biel'  recommends  the  following  method:  lo  grams  of  dry  egg  albu- 
men are  dissolved  in  lOO  grams  distilled  water,  clarified  by  subsidence, 
and  mixed  with  3*2  gram  liq.  ferr.  chlor.  of  30  per  cent,  (or  2*4  grams 
Phar.  Ger.),  previously  diluted  with  10  times  the  quantity  of  water; 
the  mixture  is  gently  heated  and  agitated  vigorously,  after  which  20 
grams  of  90  per  cent,  alcohol  and  sufficient  water  are  added  to  make 
the  mixture  weigh  200  grams.  When  used,  the  concentrated  liquor  is 
to  be  diluted  with  four  times  its  weight  of  water,  and  then  contains 
0*033  per  cent.  iron.  By  subjecting  the  solution  to  dialysis,  a  neutral 
product  was  obtained,  but  it  still  contained  chlorine,  and  appeared  to 
possess  no  advantage  over  the  normal  solution.  Dry  albuminate  of  iron 
is  obtained  by  evaporating  the  solution  to  syrup,  spreading  this  on  glass 
plates,  and  drying  at  40°C.  (=I04°F.)  The  golden-yellow  lamellae 
contain  3-34  per  cent,  iron,  and  readily  dissolve  in  warm  water  after 
the  addition  of  i  or  2  drops  of  hydrochloric  acid  (to  how  much  of  the 
albuminate?). 
Holdermann^  records  some  experiments  relative  to  the  conditions 
which  favor  the  precipitation  of  the  albuminates,  the  influence  of  acid- 
ity, alkalinity,  etc.  The  nature  of  the  acid  in  the  ferric  salt  employed 
appears  to  exercise  a  decided  influence  on  the  composition  (proportion 
i"Arch.  d.  Phar.,"  1877,  Dec,  p.  521. 
2*<Phar.  Zeitschr.  f.  Russ.,"  1878,  No.  7,  p.  193. 
^<*Arch.  der  Pharm.,"  Feb.,  1878,  p.  149. 
