Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 4

From metallic iron. From iron wire or clean iron filings cut into pieces, moistened with water, and exposed to the air until completely converted into rust; it is then ground with water, elutriated, and dried, in a similar way to that adopted for chalk. For sale, it is usually made up into small conical loaves or lumps.

By calcination:--(BROWN-RED COLCOTHAR, CROCUS, INDIAN RED, ROUGE, JEWELLERS' R.; FERRI OXYDUM RUBRUM, L.)--Calcine ferrous sulphate until the water of crystallisation is expelled, then roast it with a strong fire until acid vapours cease to rise; cool, wash the residuum with water until the latter ceases to affect litmus, and dry it.

Ferrous sulphate, 100 parts; common salt, 42 parts; calcine, wash well with water, dry, and levigate the residuum. This process yields a cheap and beautiful product, which is frequently sold for the ferri sesquioxydum; but it is less soluble, and therefore unfitted for a subst.i.tute for that preparation.

By precipitation;--FERRI SESQUIOXYDUM--B. P., FERRI OXYDUM RUBRUM--Ph. E.

L. By precipitating a solution of ferric sulphate or chloride with ammonia, in excess, and was.h.i.+ng, drying, and igniting in the resulting hydrate. Pure; anhydrous.

Ferrous sulphate, 4 lbs.; sodium carbonate, 4 lbs. 2 oz.; dissolve each separately in water, 3 galls.; mix the solution whilst hot, set the mixture aside, that the precipitate may subside, and subsequently wash and dry it as before. Contains water, and a trace of alkali.

FERRIC HYDRATE, FERRI PEROXYDUM HYDRATUM--(Ph. D., FERRUGO--Ph. E.)--_a._ (Ph. E.) Ferrous sulphate, 4 oz.; sulphuric acid, 3-1/2 fl. dr.; water, 1 quart; mix, dissolve, boil, and gradually add of nitric acid, 9 fl. dr.; stirring well and boiling for a minute or two after each addition, until the liquor yields a yellowish-brown precipitate with ammonia; it must then be filtered and precipitated with liquor of ammonia (fort.), 3-1/2 fl.

oz.; rapidly added and well mixed in; collect the precipitate, wash it well with water, drain it on a calico filter, and dry it at a heat not exceeding 180 Fahr. When intended as an antidote for a.r.s.enic it should not be dried, but kept in the moist or gelatinous state.

FERRIC PEROXIDE, MOIST (B. P.) _Syn._ FERRI PEROXIDUM HUMIDUM. _Prep._ Mix solution of persulphate of iron (B. P.), 4 fl. oz., with 1 pint of distilled water, and add it gradually to 33 fl. oz. of solution of soda (B. P.), stirring constantly and briskly. Let them stand for two hours, stirring occasionally; then put on a calico filter, and when the liquid has drained away, wash the precipitate with distilled water till what pa.s.ses through ceases to give a precipitate with chloride of barium.

Lastly, enclose the precipitate without drying it in a stoppered bottle, or other vessel, from which evaporation cannot take place.

DRY HYDRATE OF PEROXIDE OF IRON (B. P.). FERRI PEROXIDUM HYDRATUM. Dry the moist peroxide, 1 lb., at a temperature not exceeding 212 Fahr., till it ceases to lose weight. Reduce to a fine powder.--_Dose_, 5 to 30 grains.

_Prop._ Ferric oxide, prepared by precipitation (1, _c_), is an impalpable powder, of a brownish-red colour, odourless, insoluble in water, freely soluble in acids, and possessing a slightly styptic taste, especially when recently prepared. When exposed to heat its colour is brightened, its sp.

gr. increased, and it is rendered less easily soluble in acids. The oxide prepared by calcination is darker and brighter coloured, less soluble, and quite tasteless. It has either a scarlet or purplish cast, according to the heat to which it has been exposed. The finest Indian red, or crocus, usually undergoes a second calcination, in which it is exposed to a very intense heat. It is then known as 'purple brown.' The best jeweller's rouge is prepared by calcining the precipitated oxide until it becomes scarlet.

The hydrate is of a yellowish-brown colour, and though it can be dried without decomposition, it requires to be kept in a moist state. It is best preserved in a well-stoppered bottle, filled with recently distilled or boiled water.

_Pur._ Medicinal ferric oxide or sesquioxide of iron (FERRI SESQUIOXYDUM, Ph. L. & D.) is soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid, scarcely effervescing, and is again thrown down by pota.s.sa. The strained liquor is free from colour, and is not discoloured by the addition of either sulphuretted hydrogen or ferrocyanide of pota.s.sium.

The hydrate (FERRI PEROXYDUM HYDRATUM--Ph. D., FERRUGO--Ph. E.) is entirely and very easily soluble in hydrochloric acid, without effervescence; if previously dried at 180 Fahr., a stronger heat drives off about 18% of water.

_Uses, &c._ The precipitated oxide is employed in medicine as a tonic and emmenagogue, in doses of 10 to 30 gr.; and as an anthelmintic and in tic douloureux, in doses of 1 to 4 dr., mixed up with honey. It is also employed to make some preparations of iron. The calcined oxide is employed as a pigment, as an ingredient in a plaster, &c. The hydrate is used medicinally as a tonic in doses of 10 to 30 gr.; and in much larger, as an antidote in cases of a.r.s.enical poisoning.

We are indebted to Bunsen and Berthold for the introduction of this substance as an antidote to a.r.s.enic. A table-spoonful of the moist oxide may be given every 5 or 10 minutes, or as often as the patient can swallow it. (Pereira.) When this preparation cannot be obtained, rust of iron or even the dry so-called carbonate (sesquioxide) may be given along with water instead. According to Dr Maclagan, 12 parts, and to Devergie, 32 parts, of the hydrate are required to neutralise 1 part of a.r.s.enious acid.

Fehling says that the value of this substance as an antidote to a.r.s.enic is materially impaired by age, even when kept in the moist state. The presence of pota.s.sium, sodium, ammonium, hydrates, sulphates, chlorides or carbonates, is not of consequence, and, therefore, in cases of emergency, time need not be lost in was.h.i.+ng the precipitate, which, in such cases, need only be drained and squeezed in a calico filter. The magma obtained by precipitating ferrous sulphate with magnesia, in excess, and which contains free magnesia and magnesium sulphate, besides ferric hydrate, precipitates a.r.s.enious acid not only more quickly, but in larger quant.i.ty, than ferric hydrate does when alone. It will even render inert Fowler's solution, and precipitate both the copper and a.r.s.enic from solutions of Schweinfurt green in vinegar, which the pure gelatinous oxide alone will not do.

=Soluble Saccharated Oxide of Iron.= (G.) _Syn._ FERRUM OXYDATUM SACCHARATUM SOLUBILE. _Prep._ Solution or perchloride of iron (sp. gr.

1480), 2 oz. (by weight); syrup, 2 oz. (by weight); mix, and add gradually, solution of caustic soda (sp. gr. 1330); 4 oz. (by weight); and set aside for 24 hours; then add to the clear liquid 30 fl. oz. of distilled hot water; agitate and set aside. Pour off the supernatant liquid from the precipitate which will have formed, and pour on fresh distilled water; then collect the precipitate on a filter and wash thoroughly with distilled water.

Put the drained precipitate into a porcelain vessel, and mix with it 9 oz.

of sugar in powder, and evaporate to dryness with constant stirring over a water bath, then mix in enough sugar in powder to make up 10 oz. by weight; reduce to powder and keep in a closed vessel. One hundred parts contain three of metallic iron.

=Ferric Nitrate.= Fe_{2}(NO_{3})_{6}. _Syn._ PROTO NITRATE OF IRON, NITRATE OF SESQUIOXIDE OF IRON; FERRI PERNITRAS, L. By digesting nitric acid (diluted with about half its weight of water) on iron or ferric hydrate. A deep-red liquid, apt to deposit a basic salt. It is used in dyeing, and has been recommended in dyspepsia, calculous affections, and chronic diarrha.--_Dose_, 5 to 10 or 12 drops.

=Ferric Phosphate.= Fe_{2}H_{3}(PO_{4})_{3}. _Syn._ FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE (Odling); FERRI SESQUIPHOSPHAS, PHOSPHAS FERRICUS, L. A white powder obtained by precipitating ferric chloride by sodium phosphate.--_Uses_ and _dose_. As the last.

FERRIC PYROPHOSPHATE. Fe_{6}(P_{2}O_{7})_{3}. A salt containing ferric iron combined with the radical of pyrophosphoric acid.

_Prep._ By precipitating a solution of ferric sulphate with one of pyrophosphate of sodium, taking care to operate at a temperature below 59 Fahr.

_Prop., &c._ A gelatinous precipitate which dissolves with facility in excess of pyrophosphate of sodium. The citrate of ammonium is the most eligible solvent according to M. Robiquet, who first called attention to this salt as a remedial agent.--_Dose_, 5 to 10 gr.

=Ferric Sulphate.= Fe_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}. _Syn._ PERSULPHATE OF IRON, SULPHATE OF SESQUIOXIDE OF IRON; FERRI PERSULPHAS, L. _Prep._ By adding to a solution of ferrous sulphate exactly half as much sulphuric acid as it already contains, raising the liquid to the boiling-point, and then dropping in nitric acid, until the liquid ceases to blacken by such addition. The solution evaporated to dryness furnishes a buff-coloured ma.s.s, slowly soluble in water.

_Prop., &c._ With the sulphates of ammonium and pota.s.sium it unites to form compounds to which the name 'iron alums' has been given. It forms the active ingredient in the 'liquor oxysulphatis ferri' of Mr Tyson, and is said by Dr Osborne to be a const.i.tuent of 'Widow Welch's pills.' This salt is also formed when ferrous sulphate is calcined with free exposure to the air. Dissolved in water, it is used as a test for hydrocyanic, gallic, and tannic acids.

=Ferric Sulphide.= _Syn._ PERSULPHIDE OF IRON. This compound is prepared in the hydrated state (FERRI PERSULPHURETUM HYDRATUM) by adding, very gradually, a neutral solution of ferric sulphate to a dilute solution of pota.s.sium sulphide, and collecting, &c., the precipitate, as in the case of the hydrated ferrous sulphide. Proposed by Bouchardat and Sandras as a subst.i.tute for ferrous sulphide, to which they say it is preferable.

=Ferric Tan'nate.= _Syn._ FERRI TANNAS, FERRUM TANNIc.u.m, L. _Prep._ From tannin, 1 part; boiling water, 150 parts; dissolve, add of freshly precipitated ferric hydrate (dried at 212 Fahr.), 9 parts; evaporate by a gentle heat to one half, filter, add of sugar 1 part, complete the evaporation, and at once put it into bottles.--_Dose_, 3 to 5 gr., thrice daily; in chlorosis, internal haemorrhages, &c.

Double Ferric and Ammonium Tartrate. _Syn._ AMMONIO TARTRATE OF IRON, DOUBLE TARTRATE OF IRON AND AMMONIUM; AMMONIO FERRIC TARTRATE, FERRI AMMONIO TARTRATE; FERRI AMMONIO TARTRAS.

_Prep._ (Aikin.) Tartaric acid, 1 part; iron filings, 3 parts; digest in a sufficient quant.i.ty of hot water to barely cover the mixture for 2 or 3 days, observing to stir it frequently, and to add just enough water to allow the evolved gas to escape freely; next add ammonia, in slight excess, stir well, dilute with water, decant, wash the undissolved portion of iron, filter the mixed liquors, and evaporate to dryness; dissolve the residuum in water, add a little more ammonia, filter, and again gently evaporate to dryness, or to the consistence of a thick syrup, when it may be spread upon hot plates of gla.s.s or on earthenware dishes and dried in a stove-room, as directed for the corresponding citrate.

Tartaric acid, 6-1/2 oz.; water, 7 pints; dissolve, neutralise the selection with sesquicarbonate of ammonium, and add 6-1/4 oz. more tartaric acid; to the solution heated in a water bath, further add moist hydrated oxide of iron (obtained from sesquioxide of iron, 53-1/2 dr., dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and precipitated by ammonia); when dissolved, filter, and evaporate, &c., as before.

_Prop., &c._ Glossy, brittle lamellae, or irregular pieces, of a deep garnet colour, almost black, very soluble in water, and possessing a sweetish and slightly ferruginous taste. By repeated re-solution and evaporation its sweetness is increased, probably from the conversion of a part of its acid into sugar. It contains more iron than a given weight of the sulphate of the same base. It is the most pleasant-tasted of all the preparations of iron except the ammonio-citrate, last noticed.--_Dose_, 3 to 10 gr.

=Ferric and Pota.s.sium Tartrate.= _Syn._ TARTRATE OF POTa.s.sA AND IRON, FERRO-TARTRATE OF POTa.s.sA; FERRIC TARTRATE OF P.; FERRI TARTARATUM (B.

P.), FERRI POTa.s.sIO-TARTRAS (Ph. L.), FERRUM TARTARIZATUM (Ph. E.), FERRI TARTARUM (Ph. D.), FERRI ET POTa.s.sae TARTRAS (Ph. U. S.), L. _Prep._ (B.

P.) Prepare ferric hydrate from 4 fl. oz. of liq. ferri persulphas, B. P., as in making the double citrate, and add it to 2 oz. of the acid tartrate of pota.s.sium, dissolved in 30 oz. of water. Digest for 6 hours at 140, allow to cool, and decant off the clear solution, which is to be evaporated down and dried on gla.s.s plates.--(Ph. L.) Ferrous sulphate, 4 oz., is dissolved in water, 1 pint, previously mixed with sulphuric acid, 1/2 fl. oz.; heat is applied to the solution, and nitric acid, 1 fl. oz., gradually added; the solution is boiled to the consistence of a syrup, and then diluted with water, 4 galls. (less the pint already used); liquor of ammonia, 10 fl. oz., is next added, and the precipitate washed, and set aside for 24 hours; at the end of this time, the water being decanted, the still moist precipitate is added, gradually, to a mixture of bitartrate of pota.s.sium, 2 oz., and water, 1/2 pint, heated to 140 Fahr.; after a time the undissolved oxide is separated by a linen cloth, and the clear solution either gently evaporated to dryness or treated in the same manner as the citrate (lastly, preserve it in well-stoppered bottles). The formulae of the Ph. E., D., & U. S., are essentially the same. The Ph. D.

orders a heat not beyond 150 Fahr. to be applied to the mixture of the oxide and bitartrate, with occasional stirring for 6 hours, and the desiccation to be conducted at the same temperature.

_Obs._ This preparation is a double salt of pota.s.sium and iron; it is therefore wrongly called 'tartrate of iron' as is commonly heard. It is totally soluble in water; the solution is neutral to litmus and turmeric, unaffected by ferrocyanide of pota.s.sium, and not precipitated by acids nor alkalies, nor acted on by the magnet. Heated with pota.s.sa, 100 gr. throws down about 34 gr. of sesquioxide of iron. Entirely soluble in cold water; taste freely chalybeate. That of commerce has generally a feebly inky taste a slight alkaline reaction, is slightly deliquescent, dissolves in 4 parts of water, and is nearly insoluble in alcohol.

Pota.s.sio-tartrate of iron is an excellent ferruginous tonic.--_Dose_, 10 to 20 gr., made into a bolus with aromatics, or dissolved in water or other convenient menstruum.

=Ferric Valerianate.= _Syn._ VALERIANATE OF SESQUIOXIDE OF IRON, VALERIATE OF IRON; FERRI VALERIANAS (Ph. D.), L. _Prep._ (Ph. D.) By adding a solution of sodium valerianate to another of ferric sulphate, and collecting and was.h.i.+ng the precipitate, which is to be dried by placing it for some days folded in bibulous paper, on a porous brick; after which it is to be carefully kept from the air.

_Prop., &c._ A reddish-brown amorphous powder; nearly insoluble in water; soluble in rectified spirit, and in the dilute acids with decomposition.

Citrate or tartrate, flavoured with oil of valerian, is frequently sold for it.--_Dose_, 1 to 3 gr.; in anaemia and chlorosis complicated with hysteria.

=Ferroso-Ferric Hydrate.= Fe_{3}(HO)_{6}. _Syn._ HYDRATED FERROSO-FERRIC OXIDE, HYDRATED MAGNETIC OXIDE. (B. P.) Liquor ferri persulphas, 5-1/2; ferri sulphas, 2; solution of soda, 80; distilled water, a sufficiency.

Dissolve the ferrous sulphate in 40 of water, add the solution of soda, stirring them well, boil the mixture, let it stand for two hours, put in a calico filter, wash with distilled water until the was.h.i.+ng gives no precipitate with barium chloride, and dry at a temperature not exceeding 120.

Ferrous sulphate, 6 oz.; sulphuric acid, 160 minims; nitric acid, 4 fl.

dr.; stronger solution of ammonia, 4-1/2 fl. oz.; boiling water, 3 pints; dissolve half of the sulphate in half of the water, add the oil of vitriol, boil, add the nitric acid gradually, boiling after each addition for a few minutes; dissolve the remaining half of the sulphate in the rest of the boiling water; mix the two solutions, add the ammonia, stirring well (and boil for a short time); collect the precipitate on a calico filter, wash it with water until it ceases to precipitate a solution of nitrate of barium, and dry at a heat not exceeding 183 Fahr. The formulae of Gregory and Dr Jephson are similar.

Ferrous sulphate, 8 oz., dissolved in a mixture of water, 10 fl. oz., and sulphuric acid, 6 fl. dr., is converted by means of nitric acid, 4 fl.

dr., diluted with water, 2 fl. oz., into ferric sulphates; this solution is then added to another, formed by dissolving ferrous sulphate, 4 oz., in water, 1/2 pint; the whole is then mixed with liquor of pota.s.sium hydrate, 2-3/4 pints, and after being boiled for 5 minutes is collected on a calico filter, and washed, &c., as before; and is to be preserved in a well-stoppered bottle.

_Prop., &c._ The hydrate is a black sand-like substance, consisting of very minute crystals. When pure it is attracted by the magnet, and is entirely soluble in hydrochloric acid; and ammonia added to the solution throws down a black precipitate. The oxide is the chief product of the oxidation of iron at a high temperature in the air and in aqueous vapour.

It is more permanent than ferrous oxide, but incapable of forming salts.--_Dose_, 5 to 20 gr. two or three times a day.

=Ferroso-ferric Oxide.= Fe_{3}O_{4}. _Syn._ MAGNETIC O. OF I.; FERRI OXYDUM NIGRUM, F. O. MAGNETIc.u.m (Ph. D.), OXYDUM FERROSO-FERRIc.u.m, L. This occurs native, but that used in medicine is prepared artificially.

From the black scales of iron that fall around the smith's anvil, by was.h.i.+ng, drying, detaching them from impurities by means of a magnet, and then treating them by grinding and elutriation, as directed for prepared chalk. The product of this process is inferior as a medicine to the hydrate obtained as below, being less easily soluble in the juices of the stomach.

=Ferroso-ferric Oxide.= Fe_{3}O_{4}. _Syn._ MAGNETIC OXIDE. See FERROSO-FERRIC OXIDE.

=Iron, Black Oxide of.= (B. P.) _Syn._ FERRI OXYDUM MAGNETIc.u.m; FERRI OXYDUM NIGRUM; MARTIAL aeTHIOPS. _Prep._ Dissolve sulphate of iron, 2 oz., in 2 pints of distilled water, and add solution of persulphate of iron (B.

P.), 5-1/2 fl. oz., then mix with solution of soda, 4 pints (B. P.), stirring well together. Boil the mixture, let it stand for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, then put it on a calico filter, and when the liquid has drained away wash the precipitate with distilled water till what pa.s.ses through ceases to precipitate chloride of barium. Finally, dry the precipitate at a temperature not exceeding 120 Fahr.--_Dose_, 5 to 10 gr.