516 
ON  PILLS  OF  IODIDE  OF  IRON. 
cording  to  the  following  formula:  Take  of  iodine,  1  gramme,  powder  of 
iron  (not  oxidized)  1  gramme,  honey  1  gramme,  liquorice  powder  2  gram- 
mes. Rub  together  in  an  iron  mortar  the  iodine  and  the  powder  of  iron 
until  they  are  completely  mixed,  then  add  the  honey  and  beat  it  till  the 
mass  becomes  black  and  ceases  to  exhale  an  odor  of  iodine,  then  incorpo- 
rate the  liquorice  powder  with  it  and  divide  rapidly  into  twenty-five  pills. 
Silver  them  and  preserve  in  a  stoppered  bottle,  as  they  are  slightly  deliques- 
cent. The  presence  of  an  excess  of  iron  preserves  the  iodide  for  an  indefi- 
nite  period  from  the  oxidating  influence  of  the  air." 
My  object  in  calling  your  attention  to  this  paragraph  is  to 
suggest  to  your  recollection  a  communication  of  mj  own  in  the 
Jan.  number  of  the  Journal  Pharmacy,  for  1854,  presenting  the 
formula  for  a  preparation  precisely  similar,  not  as  a  proposed 
method,  but  as  having  been  long  used  in  my  own  practice  and 
that  of  several  Memphis  physicians,  to  whom  I  had  communi- 
cated it.  The  proposal  of  M.  Perrens  appeared  in  the  French 
Bulletin  Gen.  de  Therap.,  for  March,  1855,  while  my  com- 
munication appeared  in  your  Journal  in  Jan.,  1854,  more  than  a 
year  in  advance  of  the  French  Pharmacien.  Should  you  think 
it  worthwhile  to  dispute  precedence  with  the  Bulletin,  this  note 
is  at  your  service ;  but  in  any  case  I  would  mention,  that  if  the 
pills  are  prepared  with  any  viscid  vegetable  extract  as  an  adju- 
vant, as  in  my  formula,  the  silvering  of  the  pills  to  prevent 
deliquescence  is  quite  unnecessary,  provided  a  sufficient  quanti- 
ty of  dry  liquorice  powder  be  kept  with  them,  for  incipient  lique- 
faction in  that  case  renders  the  pills  sufficiently  adhesive  to  at- 
tract a  small  portion  of  the  powder  which  arrests  the  process. 
With  this  precaution  alone  I  have  kept  the  pills  in  an  ordinary 
paper  pill  box  for  three  weeks  uninjured.  You  will  observe  also 
that  the  reason  which  M.  Perrens  gives  for  an  excess  of  iron 
was  also  anticipated  by  me. 
Respectfully,  your  obed'nt  serv'nt, 
Daniel  F.  Wright,  M.  D. 
Prof,  of  Physiology  and  Pathology  in  the  Medical  College, 
Memphis,  Tenn. 
