20  New  Method  of  Giving  Iodine.  {*mi2Z'im*cm' 
IODINE:  A  NEW  METHOD  OF  GIVING  IT. 
By  Joseph  W.  England,  Ph.G. 
That  glucose  possesses  strong  reducing  qualities  has  long  been 
known,  and,  assuming  that  if  it  was  so  strongly  opposed  to  oxida- 
tion, it  should  serve  to  protect  easily  oxidizable  substances  from 
oxidation,  the  writer,  in  1888,  suggested  the  use  of  solid  glucose  for 
preserving  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide,  and,  later,  the  use  of  syrupy 
glucose  for  preserving  syrup  of  hydriodic  acid,  and  practice  has 
borne  out  the  truth  that  theory  taught.  Here  are  shown  some  sam- 
ples of  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide  made  with  glucose  in  1888.  You 
will  observe  that  they  still  retain  their  normal  green  tint  unimpaired. 
It  is  but  fair  to  say,  however,  that  equally  as  good  preservative 
results  have  been  obtained  with  hypophosphorous  acid,  in  the 
quantity  recommended  by  the  National  Formulary  for  solution  of 
ferrous  iodide. 
Whilst  glucose  possesses  such  strong  reducing  qualities,  who 
would  have  thought  that  it  was  capable  of  reducing  the  element 
iodine  with  the  formation  of  colorless  hydriodic  acid,  to  a  certain 
extent  at  least  ?  A  very  interesting  article  upon  the  therapeu- 
tical application  of  iodine  reduced  in  this  way,  appeared  in  a  recent 
issue  of  the  Therapeutic  Gazette.  The  editor  referred  to  the  fact 
that  full  doses  of  iodine  cannot  be  administered  internally  except 
in  the  form  of  potassium  iodide,  for  the  reason  that  free  iodine 
in  large  doses  is  so  irritating  to  mucous  membranes.  In  order  to 
secure  the  specific  action  of  a  remedy  for  chronic  disorders,  it  is  essen- 
tial that  it  be  retained  in  the  circulating  blood  for  a  time  sufficient 
to  exercise  its  specific  influence  upon  diseased  tissues.  It  is  claimed 
that  in  glucose  there  exists  an  agent  capable  of  occluding  free 
iodine,  so  that  it  becomes  destitute  of  both  odor  or  taste,  and  can  be 
given  in  much  larger  doses  than  an  equivalent  quantity  of  free 
iodine,  without  producing  any  unpleasant  symptom.  Further  than 
this,  it  is  claimed  that  since  glucose  normally  occurs  in  the  intes- 
tinal juices,  in  the  chyle  after  eating  amylaceous  and  saccharine  food, 
in  the  hepatic  venous  blood,  and  as  glycogen  in  the  liver,  it  is  prob- 
able that  glucose  in  occluding  free  iodine,  is  in  itself  protected  from 
chemical  change  during  the  process  of  digestion  by  the  anti-fermen- 
tative quality  of  the  latter,  and  hence  may  be  readily  absorbed  into 
the  circulation,  carrying  in  its  embrace  the  iodine,  to  be  liberated 
during  the  structural  changes  which  ensue  prior  to  the  formation  of 
