40 
blancard's  pill  of  the  iodide  of  iron. 
With  these  preliminaries,  we  give  at  length  the  process  for 
preparing  Blancard's  pills,  which  we  take  from  the  Bulletin  de 
V  Academie  de  Medicine.  It  is  founded  on  the  volatility  of 
ether,  and  the  insolubility  of  the  iodide  of  iron  in  this  vehicle: 
Take  of  Iodine  seventy-seven  grains  ;  Iron  filings  thirty-seven 
grains;  Distilled  water  two  and  a  half  drachms;  Honey  one 
drachm  and  thirty-four  grains  ;  Absorbent  powder  (say  powder 
of  Althgea)  a  sufficient  quantity.    Make  100  pills. 
Place  the  wrater,  iodine,  and  iron  in  a  Florence  flask  ;  shake 
the  vessel  as  the  reaction  takes  place  ;  filter  the  green  liquor  that 
results,  into  a  small  iron  capsule,  the  weight  of  which  is  known. 
Wash  the  flask,  and  filter  with  two  and  a  half  additional  drachms 
of  water,  slightly  sweetened  with  a  portion  of  the  honey  to  be 
used  in  making  the  pills.  Pour  both  liquids  into  the  capsule, 
and  evaporate,  at  first  rapidly,  then  at  a  gentler  heat,  until  the 
weight  of  the  mixture  is  equivalent  to  the  combined  weight  of 
the  iodine  and  honey  (171  grains,  or  3iij.  nearly).  Add  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  powdered  althsea  root,  or,  still  better,  equal 
parts  of  althsea  and  liquorice  powder,  about  3ij.  Divide  the 
xcass  into  four  equal  part3 ;  roll  each  part  in  powdered  iron. 
Make  each  mass  into  a  cylinder  on  an  iron  slab  ;  divide  each 
cylinder  into  twenty-five  pills,  and  roll  each  pill  in  powdered 
iron,  to  cover  the  iodide  exposed  by  the  spatula.  Expose  the 
pills  to  a  gentle  heat  that  they  may  contract  no  moisture,  and 
Worthington,  of  Philadelphia,  published  an  excellent  formula  (see  vol.  xv. 
page  71  of  this  Journal)  for  pills  of  iodide  of  iron.  This  is  noticed  in  the 
Dispensatory  along  with  others.  The  remarks  there  made  of  the  ineligibilit}- 
of  solid  iodide  of  iron  for  extemporaneous  prescription,  refers  to  the  salt 
itself  and  not  a  solid  preparation  of  it  like  Blancard's  pills,  and  Dr.  Bache 
very  properly  says,  if  a  pill  is  wanted,  get  it  by  evaporating  the  syrup — or 
a  syrup.  What  are  Blancard's  pills  but  a  honey  syrup  of  iodide  of  iron 
evaporated  and  rendered  pilular  by  althaea,  rolled  in  powdered  iron  and 
varnished?  The  suggestion  to  use  powdered  iron  along  with  solid  iodide  of 
iron  in  pills  we  long  since  made,  and  others  have  done  likewise.  Further, 
Blancard's  pills  are  not  unknown  in  Philadelphia,  and  are  prescribed  by 
some  of  our  physicians,  but  the  majority  very  properly  think  that  syrup 
of  iodide  of  iron  is  to  be  preferred  as  a  pharmaceutical  form  of  this  agent, 
and  they  claim  to  hold  their  honest  opinion  without  being  obnoxious  to  the 
charge  of  being  "  dictatorial  or  dogmatic." — Ed.  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.] 
