AmjX»m'}      New  Method  of  Giving  Iodine.  21 
the  new  blood  corpuscles.  In  the  formula  recommended,  thirty 
grains  of  iodine  are  dissolved  in  four  fluidounces  of  water,  by  means 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  grains  of  potassium  iodide;  to  this  solution 
there  is  added  twelve  fluidounces  of  golden  syrup  or  sugar-house 
syrup,  or  molasses,  all  of  which  contain  glucose  together  with  some 
organic  matter,  and  answer  the  purpose  as  well  as  the  artificial 
glucose.  Lastly,  for  flavoring,  120  minims  of  spirits  of  gaultheria  are 
added.  Dr.  F.  P.  Mann  in  the  Medical  Record1  writes  that  he  has 
obtained  the  most  satisfactory,  even  remarkable,  results  with  this 
preparation,  where  potassiufh  iodide  or  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide  have 
signally  failed.  He  gives  the  syrup  in  tablespoonful  doses,  between 
each  meal,  with  a  little  water.  *  He  advises  that  the  freshly  made 
preparation  be  kept  for  full  twenty-four  hours  before  being  used,  as 
from  six  to  ten  hours  are  required  to  completely  occlude  the  free 
iodine. 
Note  by  the  Editor. — It  is  strange  that  it  frequently  takes  a 
long  time  before  an  observation  made  in  science  may  find  practical 
application.  More  than  37  years  ago  the  writer  experimented  with 
syrup  of  ferrous  iodide,  which  had  been  decomposed  by  exposure  and 
contained  free  iodine,  and  ascertained  that  it  could  be  restored  to  its 
original  properties  simply  by  exposure  to  the  direct  sunlight  (see 
Amer.  Jour.  Phar.}  1854,  p.  409),  but  that  the  heat  of  the  sun,  its 
light  being  excluded,  had  no  perceptible  influence  upon  the  colored 
syrup.  For  a  number  of  years  following  the  publication  of  the 
paper  referred  to,  other  investigations  in  the  same  direction  were 
published,  the  most  important  paper  having  a  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Mr.  England's  paper  being  one  by  E.  Fougera  {Amer.  Jour. 
Phar.,  i860,  p.  22),  in  which  it  is  reported  that  syrup  of  ferrous 
iodide  becomes  entirely  unchangeable  by  a  long  exposure  to  heat 
or  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  that  iodine  forms  with  sugar  a  chem- 
ical combination.  Of  the  latter  Mr.  Fougera  says  {ibid,  p.  25): 
u  This  new  therapeutic  agent,  as  white  and  as  agreeable  to  the 
taste  as  the  simple  syrup,  stable  in  its  composition,  no  doubt  will 
some  day  take  the  lead  among  the  preparations  of  iodine."  It  will 
be  seen  from  this  that  the  method  of  giving  iodine  described  as  new  by 
Mr.  England,  was  actually  suggested  more  than  thirty  years  ago. 
The  effects  of  iodine  upon  the  sugars  has  been  studied  only  to  a 
1  Medical  Record,  June  13,  1891. 
