WYETH’S 
DIALYSED IRON. 
(FERRUM DIALYSATUM.') 
A NEUTRAL SOLUTION OF OXIDE OF IRON IN 
THE COLLOID FORM. THE RESULT OF 
ENDOSMOSIS AND DIFFUSION WITH 
DISTILLED WATER. 
ABOUT six months ago we placed before the Medical Profession 
of the United States a new preparation called Dialysed Iron. 
We did this after long continued and careful experiments as to its 
manufacture, based upon the published accounts of laboratory work 
done by Graham, Becquerel, and others, believing that the product 
so obtained would prove a valuable addition to the then existing 
list of Chalybeates. We were unwilling to offer it as a remedial 
agent until the practical working of our appliances enabled us to 
prepare it on any required scale, and of a uniform quality in every 
respect equal to the highest standard of the eminent chemists above 
mentioned. Having accomplished this object, we secured for the 
new article a trial in hospital and private practice, under the observa- 
tion of some of the most eminent Physicians of this and other cities. 
The results of this trial fully justified us in claiming, in our circulars, 
and in our correspondence with physicians and druggists, many 
advantages possessed by Dialysed Iron over the ordinary ferruginous 
preparations. 
These advantages are: — 
i. It is easily administered, the dose being very small. 
2. It has no unpleasant taste or smell. 
3. It does not irritate the stomach. 
4. It has no effect on the bowels, producing neither con- 
stipation nor diarrhoea. 
5. It does not blacken the teeth. 
Abundant testimony to the reality of these advantages, from 
unquestionable sources, is appended to this paper, and we beg for 
a careful examination of it. 
Immediately upon the introduction of this article by us, and the 
recognition so generally accorded to its merits, other manufacturers 
began offering, to the Drug Trade, preparations, which were called 
Dialysed Iron, and which were asserted to be equal in every respect 2 
to ours. We confidently maintain, however, that no reliable article 
of this kind can be made except by the process of dialysis. The 
digesting of an acid solution until it is neutral will by no means 
result in a preparation at all identical with our Dialysed Iron. 
We have, at great expense, perfected an apparatus which enables 
us to produce this article on a large scale. So delicate is the process 
of manufacture, and so important did we consider the purity of 
the water used to accomplish the endosmosis, that we bored an arte- 
sian well to supply our dialyzers. 
We do not assume that there are not many intelligent apothecaries 
and chemists who can, on a small scale, manufacture Dialysed 
Iron equal to ours; but we fear that some of the solutions, prepared 
by saturation, and dialysed only slightly, if at all, may so disappoint 
physicians as to lead them to condemn, or at least to under-estimate, 
the genuine article. 
We cannot accept the responsibility of the claims put forth for 
this preparation, except for that manufactured by us. As the process 
is unavoidably expensive, the article we furnish costs more than the 
imitations. It is indispensable to a fair trial of this very valuable 
remedy that the prescriber should specify 
“ WYETH & BROTHER’S DIALYSED IRON.” 
The following brief resume of the chemistry of the matter will 
interest those who have not already had their attention particularly 
directed to it: 
The process of dialysis consists in placing the substance in a 
dialyser, fofmed of a diaphragm of parchment or membrane, the 
other side of which is in contact with distilled water. At the end 
of a certain time the colloids remain in the dialyser, while the 
crystalloids have, by endosmosis or diffusion, passed the diaphragm 
and become dissolved in the distilled water. 
In the preparation of Dialysed Iron we avail ourselves of two 
known principles. The first is connected with the remarkable prop- 
erty possessed by the chlorides m general, of combining with the 
oxides to form oxychlorides, winch are usually soluble, and in which 
the proportion of oxide is very large. As regards iron, particularly, 
one equivalent of its perchloride may, under suitable conditions, 
combine with thirty or more of the oxide, giving a soluble oxy- 
chloride, the formula ot which would be Fe2 Cl6 30 Fe2 03. To 
get rid ot the hydrochloric acid, and obviate the usual inconveniences 
of ferruginous preparations, we take advantage of the second prin- 
ciple,—that of the unequal diffusibility of hydrochloric acid and 
peroxide of iron, the latter belonging to the class of colloid bodies; 
and by means of the dialysei we completely separate this hydro- 
chloric acid, so that, as a final result, we have the thirty equivalents 
of soluble peroxide of iron contained in a very small volume of water. 
When this operation has been conducted with care, the Dialysed 
Iton thus obtained is an inodorous liquid of a deep-red color; 
it has none of the styptic taste so common and so disagreeable 
in ferruginous preparations. 
By our appliances we are enabled to carry the dialysation to such 
a degree that our preparation is tasteless and free from astrin- 3 
gency; the minute quantity of the oxychloride not being appreciable, 
nor giving evidence of existing; unless acid is added, converting it 
into a salt of iron. 
Th. Graham’s celebrated essay on the diffusion of liquids, (Phil. 
“Trans.,” 1861, 183) announces the following results: If recently 
“ precipitated ferric hydrate or carbonate of ammonium is added 
“to an aqueous solution of ferric chloride, as long as the precip- 
itates are redissolved, and if the dark-red solution thus obtained, 
“containing from 4 to 5 per cent, of solid matter, is subjected to 
“dialysis, mainly muriatic acid will pass through the septum upon 
“which, after 19 days, remains a red liquid, containing for 98.5 
“parts of oxide 1.5 part of muriatic acid.” 
Our Dialysed Iron is not a saline compound, and is easily dis- 
tinguished from Salts of Iron, by not giving rise to a blood-red 
color on the addition of an Alkaline Sulpho-Cyanide, or a blue 
precipitate with Ferro-Cyanide of Potassium. It does not become 
cloudy if boiled. When agitated part of Alcohol and two 
parts of Ether (fortior), the Ether layer is not made yellow. 
The following testimonials from the leading medical jour- 
nals NOT ONLY GIVE AMPLE EVIDENCE OF THE GREAT VALUE 
OF THIS PREPARATION OF IRON, BUT FURTHER SHOW THE GEN- 
EROUS RECOGNITION AND ENDORSEMENT OF THAT MANUFAC- 
TURED BY US, TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL OTHERS. We CON- 
FIDENTLY CLAIM A PERFECTION IN APPLIANCES AND APPARATUS 
THAT ENABLES US TO PRODUCE ON A LARGE COMMERCIAL SCALE 
AN ARTICLE THAT CANNOT BE EQUALED BY ANY HOUSE IN 
THIS COUNTRY. OUR DlALYSERS, IN WHICH THE SOLUTION 
13 SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF WATER SUPPLIED FROM AN 
Artesian Well, embrace a surface of six hundred square 
FEET OF MEMBRANE. 
The Philadelphia Medical Times for July 21, 1877, contained the 
following as a leading article: 
DIALYSED IRON. 
For administration by itself as a pure chalybeate, the new 
preparation known as Dialysed Iron leaves almost nothing to be 
desired. It is a clear, neutral, very deep wine-colored liquid, free 
from taste and apparent astringency, and bearing perfectly dilution 
with pure water, although water containing salts precipitates with 
it; our Schuylkill water will sometimes precipitate it. It is un- 
doubtedly a powerful chalybeate. In at least one case we know 
of, it was well borne after various other preparations of the metal 
had been abandoned on account of the obstinate constipation 
they produced. 
It has long been known that an aqueous solution of ferric chlo- 
ride is capable of dissolving the recently precipitated ferric hydrate, 
and that by evaporation a solid soluble compound or mixture 
may be obtained. In this way one molecule of the chloride may 4 
readiiy be made to join with from five to seven of the oxide. There 
is some difference of opinion as to whether this is a chemical 
combination or merely a mechanical mixture; but it certainly 
facilitates writing to speak of the compound as an oxychloride. 
Dialysed Iron is made by precipitating ferric chloride with 
diluted water of ammonia, washing the ferric hydrate which falls, 
dissolving it in a solution of ferric chloride, and placing the result 
in a dialyser. Here the iron solution is separated from water by a 
parchment membrane, and is gradually deprived more or less 
completely of its chlorine by the passage through the membrane 
of a chlorinated compound. 
It was asserted originally by Graham, the discoverer of Dialysed 
Iron, that “mainly muriatic acid passes” through the dialyser, and 
that the iron is left in the form of a soluble colloidal ferric hy- 
drate. This hydrate has, however, never been obtained entirely 
free from chlorine, and it seems most probable that even in 
Graham’s solution the iron existed as an oxychloride. Further, 
the solution obtained by Graham was not permanent, gelatinizing 
with separation of ferric hydrate in about twenty days. The solu- 
tions now in the market under the name of Dialysed Iron are 
permanent, and must contain more chlorine than that of Graham; 
so that it seems almost certain that the iron is in the form of a 
very basic oxychloride. 
As already stated, Dialysed Iron is precipitated by various salts. 
With arsenical preparations it acts with great rapidity. Judging 
from its behavior in the test tube, it is even a better antidote to 
the poison than is the freshest precipitated oxide. Experiments 
upon animals are, however, necessary before a final judgment 
can be reached upon this point. 
The London chemists, Messrs. Squire, state that they introduced 
Dialysed Iron as long ago as 1869; and it has .been imported 
both of French and German origin. Many of these foreign products 
have been shown to be comparatively worthless, having been 
either not at all dialysed or very imperfectly so. We are, therefore, 
very glad that several of our Philadelphia firms have energetically 
taken the matter in hand. The only sample submitted to us is 
that of John Wyeth & Brother, which appeared to be all that 
could be desired. In examining a preparation the possession of 
the following qualities should be attended to: transparency, pre- 
cipitation by feeble saline solutions, and freedom from distinct 
taste and from any acid reaction. 
In the same journal, for September i, Dr. George Hay, of 
Allegheny City, Pa., writes: 
DIALYSED IRON. 
Under the heading ‘‘Leading Articles” in No. 252 of the Times 
appears an article on Dialysed Iron. Having procured from one 
of the druggists in this city a sample labelled “Wyeth’s Dialysed 
Iron,” I proceeded to examine with the view of determining the 
quantative relation between the chlorine and the metal in this 
preparation. Whether the relation ascertained by me in one in- 5 
stance will always be a constant relation it is impossible for me 
to tell, and whether fhe sample was untampered with I cannot 
say (though it is not likely to have been tampered with), as it 
was not obtained directly from Messrs. Wyeth & Brother. The 
sample diluted with distilled water remains a perfectly clear solution. 
The addition of three volumes of water to a portion of the sample 
causes no precipitation even after prolonged boiling of the solution. 
The oxide of iron is completely precipitated by ammonia, as the 
ordinary hydrate of sesquioxide of iron. Contrary to what might 
have been expected, I find that the cautious addition of dilute 
hydrochloric acid to the diluted sample causes precipitation, which 
is accelerated upon boiling, and at the same time a small portion 
of the oxide is dissolved as ordinary sesquichloride of iron of a 
pale-yellow color. This precipitation takes place more quickly 
with dilute sulphuric acid, and much more slowly with dilute nitric 
acid. The hydrate which is precipitated by these acids is very 
much lighter in color than that which falls upon the addition of 
ammonia, and is probably a different hydrate. After precipitation 
by hydrochloric acid it requires a pretty large addition of the acid 
to redissolve the precipitate, and then the solution is only the 
ordinary chloride of iron, and much lighter in color than 
formerly, being now of a pale yellow. One cubic centimetre 
of the solution weighs 15.866 grains, or rather more than 
the gramme (15.434 grains.) I find that 100 weighed grains 
of the preparation yield of anhydrous sesquioxide of iron 3.828 
grains, and of chlorine only .207 grain. Now, .207 grain of 
chlorine are equivalent to .316 grain of anhydrous sesquichloride 
of iron. This last quantity contains .109 grain of metallic iron, 
which again are equivalent to .155 grain of anhydrous sesquioxide 
of iron. Deducting .155 from the 3.828 grains of anhydrous ses- 
quioxide already found, there remain 3.673 grains of sesquioxide 
in solution, without any chlorine or anything else to maintain it 
so, except water. Probably under the peculiar circumstances the 
chloride acts as a catalytic body, and by its mere presence keeps 
the large amount of hydrate of sesquioxide of iron in solution, and 
probably also the hydrate is not the ordinary hydrate containing 
three molecules of water; but it is quite possible that during the 
osmotic process the hydrated sesquichloride of iron containing 
twelve molecules of water becomes a similar hydrate by substitu- 
tion, or perhaps is even more highly hydrated and so becomes 
soluble in water. The disparity between the chlorine and the iron 
is such that there seems to be little probability that they exist 
together as a compound, and it would appear very astonishing 
that so small a quantity of chlorine could hold in solution so 
large a quantity of iron, especially when the iron exists as hydrate 
of sesquioxide, and the fact is remembered that, so far as is known, 
the oxides and chlorides of this metal have always been found to 
be the analogues of one another. It would require a very great 
deal of very patient and laborious work to find out how this iron 
is kept in solution, if, indeed, it could be discovered and explained 
at all; but the fact remains that this is a very elegant preparation 
of iron, and that is all which the practical physician requires to 
know. 6 
From The Philadelphia Druggist and Chemist, C. C. Vanderbeck, 
M. D., Ph. D., Editor: 
Messrs. John Wyeth & Brother have from time to time sent 
me samples of their Dialysed Iron, to which careful trial has 
been given; and although much testimony has appeared in medi- 
cal and pharmaceutical journals in regard to the chemistry and 
therapeutical applications of this article, it may not be amiss for 
me to add my own results obtained with it. 
It can by no means be said that in this very elegant prepara- 
tion, (to develop which the Messrs. Wyeth have devoted much 
time, labor, and expense, and which they have taken great pains 
to submit to Physicians for the purpose of having it thoroughly 
tested), the efficiency of the remedy has been sacrificed to its 
beauty. It accomplishes all the objects of the other chalybeates, 
without the bad effects which they sometimes produce. 
In several cases I have used it with gratifying success. In one 
case in particular, it has been taken in full doses and for a long 
time, and neither soils the teeth nor constipates the bowels, while 
its invigorating action is very marked. This therapeutical efficiency 
is very important, in addition to the negative virtues of the article. 
It is clear from the abundant and constantly increasing testimony 
that Dialysed Iron is no longer an experiment. Its claims have 
been substantiated both in this country and in Europe. No cases 
of failure have been reported in which the properly prepared 
article had been employed. 
It is important to bear this in mind, for like all other valuable 
preparations, this one has been imitated. Wyeth & Brother’s 
Dialysed Iron is somewhat more concentrated even than that made 
by Bravais, of France, which is the standard accepted in Europe 
for this article. 
Wm, A. Greene, M. D., of Macon, Ga., writes to the New 
Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, under date June 12, 
1877 : 
“I will mention the case of my wife, who is very delicate, and 
invariably, if in this climate too late in the heated term, has a 
bilious attack of some kind, convalescing slowly in an anaemic 
condition, and only recovering her strength after visiting the chaly- 
beate waters of North Georgia. I have never found a preparation 
of iron she could bear, on account of its producing unbearable 
gastric distress. This spring I accidentally was put in possession 
of a bottle of Dialysed Iron, which I gave her in twenty-drop 
doses three times daily at meal times. Strange to say, not one 
unpleasant symptom followed its use, although she was aware that 
she was taking an iron mixture, for which she had a holy horror. 
With the addition of a bottle of good porter per day and good 
nourishment, she rapidly improved and recovered without having 
to leave home to this writing. I feel no hesitancy in pronouncing 
it the best and most valuable preparation of iron in use.” 7 
The Virginia Medical Monthly for Sept., 1877, lias a lengthy 
article on this subject, from which we quote: 
DIALYSED IRON (Ferrurn Dialysatum) is attracting so much 
attention throughout the medical world, and its future is so 
promising, that a notice of it will be of interest to most of our 
readers. We compile this notice from several paragraphic notes 
in various medical journals, and from circulars issued by manu- 
facturing chemists, etc. 
Dialysed Iron was discovered by John M. Ordway, and was 
first described by him in Si/liman’s Journal in 1857, although 
by some Graham is said to be entitled to the credit. Ordway’s 
description was, in the main, confirmed by Bechamp in 1859, 
(Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 3rd series, p. 296); after- 
wards by Phillips, and again, in 1868, by Jeannel. 
The London chemists, Messrs. Squire, state that they intro- 
duced Dialysed Iron as long ago as 1869; it has also been im- 
ported both of French and German origin. More recently it 
has been introduced Austria under the name of catalytic 
iron. 
According to a circular recently issued by Messrs. John Wyeth 
& Bro., manufacturing chemists, &c., of Philadelphia, who have 
done so much to introduce the article to the .American profes- 
sion, and whose preparation is to be preferred even to the im- 
ported, we are informed that in the manufacture of Dialysed 
Iron we avail ourselves of two known principles. The first is 
connected with the remarkable property possessed by the chlo- 
rides in general, of combining with the oxides to form oxychlo- 
rides, which are usually soluble, and in which the proportion of 
oxide is very large. As regards iron, particularly, one equiv- 
alent of its perchloride may under suitable conditions combine 
with thirty or more of the oxide, giving a soluble oxychloride, 
the formula of which would be Fe2 Cl6 Fe2 03. To get rid of 
the hydrochloric acid, and obviate the usual inconveniences 
of ferruginous preparations, we take advantage of the second 
principle—that of the unequal diffusibihty of hydrochloric acid 
and peroxide of iron, the latter belonging to the class of colloid 
bodies; and by means of the dialyser we completely separate 
this hydrochloric acid; so that, as a final result, we have the 
thirty equivalents of soluble peroxide of iron contained in a very 
small volume of water. 
When this operation has been conducted with care, the Dia- 
lysed Iron obtained is simply a neutral concentrated solution of 
the oxychloride of iron (ferric oxychloride, Fe,// Cl 23 Fe"' O) 
holding in combination the higher oxide of iron (ferric oxide or 
sesquichloride). It does not contain a particle of ferric hydrate, 
as some have affirmed. Its chemical arrangement is probably 
best expressed by the formula Fe2 Cl6‘ 23 Fe2/" 03. It should 
be added, however, that chemists as yet are not fully agreed as 
to the exact formula. Each fluid ounce of the solution contains 
twenty-four grains of iron. 
Dialysed Iron is a permanent, neutral, inodorous liquid, of a 
deep red color, but transparent in thin layers. It has none of 
the styptic taste so common and disagreeable in ferruginous prepa- 8 
rations. Some preparations—especially those of foreign manu- 
facture—contain only or 4 per cent, of iron, whereas it should 
contain 5 per cent. A 5 per cent, solution should yield 3 grains 
of dry residue when 60 grains of it are carefully evaporated to 
complete dryness. The preparations manufactured in this coun- 
try are both better in quality and cheaper than the imported. 
The solution should not be allowed to freeze, as this has the 
effect of thickening it. But if by evaporation, freezing, or other- 
wise, it becomes too thick or gelatinous, the addition of a few 
drops of distilled water will bring the solution to the proper 
consistence; but water containing salts precipitates with it—even 
the Schuylkill water will sometimes precipitate it. With arsenical 
salts, Dialysed Iron acts with great rapidity—even more quickly 
than the freshest preparation of the precipitated oxide of iron 
which has heretofore been held to be the surest antidote for 
arsenical poisons introduced into the stomach. Preparations having 
a sweet taste will very generally be found to be simply the sac- 
charate or glycerate of iron, and entirely different from Dialysed 
Iron. 
Becquerel states that “tested by chemical reagents,, this article 
is found to be immediately precipitated in the form of brown 
flocculi by a very small quantity of sulphuric acid, by alkalies 
and by many salts; but it is not precipitated by nitric, acetic, or 
muriatic acid. This latter property precludes the risk of its 
activity being interfered with by the chlorides in the digestive 
canal.” 
Dialysed Iron is distinguished from the salts of iron by not 
giving rise to a blood red color on the addition of an alkaline 
sulpho-cyanide, nor to a blue precipitate with ferro-cyanide of 
potassium. It should not become cloudy if boiled. When agi- 
tated with one part of alcohol and two parts of the stronger 
ether, the ether layer should not be made yellow. 
Dialysed Iron may be administered for months together for all 
the purposes for which ferruginous preparations are usually ex- 
hibited. Becquerel says of it—and his observations are confirmed 
by physicians of eminence everywhere—that “it produces neither 
heartburn, diarrhoea, constipation, eructations, nor, in short, any 
gastric disturbance ; and, which is a matter of much importance, 
it never blackens the teeth." It is especially in anaemia, chlo- 
rosis, palpitations, chronic diarrhoea, gastralgia, dysmenorrhoea, 
etc., etc., that its use is indicated. It is certainly tolerated well 
by some persons who do not bear other forms of iron. Dr. S. 
Weir Mitchell, in a recent clinical lecture reported in the Medi- 
cal and Surgical Reporter, especially recommended it in a case 
of extreme exhaustion coming on in a professional pedestrian 
two weeks after a walking feat of fifty miles in ten hours. 
But its specific virtue is as an antidote for poisoning by arsenic. 
Dr. H. C. Wood, in the Medical Times, July 21, 1877, as already 
quoted, says, “Judging from its behavior in the test tube, it is 
even a better antidote to the poison than is the freshest precipi- 
tated oxide. Experiments upon animals are, however, necessary 
before a final judgment can be reached upon this point.” When 
Dialysed Iron is taken into the stomach, gelatinous ferric hydrate 9 
is produced. It also possesses the great advantage of being 
always ready for immediate use, and, possessing the virtues of 
iron in general, will hereafter be found in every drug-store and 
in the saddle-bags of every country physician. 
The dose of Dialysed Iron, for tonic purposes, is from five to 
twenty drops four or five times daily. It may be taken, how- 
ever, without inconvenience in doses several times larger than 
those stated, but to no advantage, as only a certain amount can 
be absorbed into the system. From numerous experiments re- 
cently made, it would appear that this amount is not more than 
from fifty to eighty drops per day. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, how- 
ever {loc. citi), uses it “in far larger doses, and has given it freely 
by the drachm or the half ounce [per day] without its causing 
annoyance.” Of course, in cases of arsenical poisoning, an ex- 
cessive dose should be given at once. 
Dialysed Iron is best administered by itself upon sugar, or 
mixed with some simple syrup which is free from an acid, as an 
acid admixture converts the preparation into a salt of iron. It 
may also be conveniently given in wine, or in coffee, etc. Being, 
however, without odor, and imparting merely the faintest astrin- 
gent taste—if not altogether tasteless—to the palate, and being 
compatible with syrup and alcohol, and communicating no taste 
to any suitable vehicle, it is easy to construct formulae for elixirs, 
syrups, etc. A glycerite of Dialysed Iron is said to be an elegant 
preparation. 
The manufacturers in this country furnish with each bottle a 
“drop counter,” which greatly facilitates the administration of 
the solution. This consists of a small glass tube, nozzle-pointed, 
capped by a rubber bulb. “The rubber portion is compressed 
with the fingers, and the tube is introduced into the liquid; the 
pressure is then relaxed, when the liquid, passes up into the in- 
strument, which is thus charged, and may be removed. By 
repeated gentle pressure on the rubber, the liquid is made to 
issue, drop by drop, until the requisite number is counted.” Thb 
instrument should not be washed with ordinary water, for reasons 
already stated, but should be cleaned, after using, with a clean 
rag of soft linen. 
Prof. John M. Maisch, of Philadelphia, writes as follows in the 
American Journal of Pharmacy for July, 1877. 
As to the advantage of the dialysed over the oxychloride made 
by saturation with hydrate of iron, that is best ascertained by 
comparing their taste, which in the former is scarcely astringent, 
while that of the latter is distinctly ferruginous. A preparation 
now before me, imported from Germany, called Ferrum oxydatum 
dialysatum, I do not hesitate to say has been made by saturation 
alone, or by incomplete dialysis; for its reaction is distinctly acid 
and its taste quite styptic. Some French preparations, sold by the 
same name, were found to be superior to the German in both 
respects; but one yielded only 3.3 per cent, of solid matter, 
another less than half that quantity. A 5 per cent, solution of 
Dialysed Iron should yield 3 grains of dry residue when 60 grains 
of it are carefully evaporated to complete dryness. 10 
The characteristics of a 5 per cent, solution of Dialysed Iron 
may be stated to be— 
1. The deep brown-red color, which in thin layers is per- 
fectly transparent. 
2. The freedom from odor and taste, it being merely faintly 
astringent to the palate. 
3. The absence of even slight acid reaction to test-paper; and 
4. The behavior to tannin and to saline solutions (even spring 
water), as stated above. 
It is best given by itself upon sugar, or mixed with some simple 
syrup which is free from acid. It should be mentioned that 
the same preparation has made its appearance in Austria as catalytic 
iron. 
Dr. L. P. Yandell, Jr., Prof, of Therapeutics and Clinical Med- 
icine in the University of Louisville, says in the Louisville 
Medical News: 
Dialysed Iron has been used to a limited extent for some years 
in Europe, but it is only within the past few months that it has 
attracted much attention in America. It is now manufactured on 
a large scale by Wyeth & Brother; of Philadelphia, and according 
to the highest authorities in pharmacy this American preparation 
is greatly superior to the foreign article. 
For more than a month I have employed Dialysed Iron in my 
practice to the exclusion of all other forms of the metal, and with 
most gratifying results. The manufacturers claim for Dialysed Iron 
the following advantages: It is tasteless, does not blacken the 
teeth, does not produce headache, gastric derangement, or con- 
stipation, and acts as efficaciously in ten drop doses given four or 
five times a day as in double or quadruple these quantities. Besides, 
it is asserted to be equally as reliable an antidote to arsenic as 
the hydrated sesquioxide. In color it is a bright, reddish brown. 
Taken undiluted it has the faintest possible styptic taste, but this 
is not observable when water is added. It is possessed of a 
slight, peculiar flavor, resembling that of fresh blood, but not in 
the least unpleasant. In cold weather it is said to become thick— 
gelatiniform, and that a few drops of impure water to a consider- 
able quantity of the fluid may produce this result at any time. 
This coagulation I have noticed even with the thermometer ranging 
between 8o° and 900; but a small quantity of distilled water 
added immediately restores its liquidity. 
In anaemia, from various causes, in the neuroses, dermatoses, 
menstrual derangements, phthisis, syphilis, sexual debility, and 
indeed in all of the morbid conditions for which I have prescribed 
ferrum dialysatum it has given perfect satisfaction, except in two 
cases, where it produced some constipation; but in both these 
instances it was administered in what the manufacturers state are 
unnecessarily large doses. In one, a lady, half tea-spoonful was 
given thrice daily, and in the other, a girl of six years, fifteen 
drops were given thrice daily. In many others, half-tea-spoonful 
doses given three to six times in the twenty-four hours led to no 11 
unpleasant results. In restoring the appetite, and in building up 
strength this form of iron has seemed to surpass all others. 
Already Messrs. Wyeth’s new preparation has become popular with 
those who have used it, and when its excellencies have become 
generally known, it is safe to predict that it will supersede nearly 
all of the other ferruginous preparations. 
Anstie insisted on the necessity of iron in the treatment of the 
neuroses, and what he claimed for iron in this class of ma'adies 
is equally true of other diseases. Iron deserves to rank as the 
king of metals in medicine, as it does in the arts and manu- 
factures. 
Dialysed Iron may be given in any vehicle desired—syrups, 
elixirs, tinctures, or glycerites, but simple water is most likely 
to be preferred by the sick, as in this way it is without taste, 
and sick people usually dislike flavors. 
Many formulae are suggested in the pharmaceutical journals 
for the manufacture of Dialysed Iron, but with its mode of pro- 
duction, the physician is not concerned. Suffice it to say, that 
this addition to the materia medica is made from the liquor of 
the perchloride of iron, and the dialysis is performed by per- 
colation through parchment, bladder, or fine parchment paper, 
after the components of the medicine have been properly com- 
mingled. 
The Louisville Medical Journal, (July 21, 1877), says: 
One of the latest pharmaceiitical novelties is the preparation 
bearing the above name. It was considered for a long time that 
he, who added another ferric compound to the already overburdened 
list in the pharmacopoeia, was far from being a benefactor; but 
Dialysed Iron will win welcome for itself and thanks for its in- 
vention. Dialysed Iron is a pure peroxide of iron in a liquid state. 
It has none of the styptic taste common to ferruginous preparations. 
It is neutral in its reaction, easily absorbed, and is unirritating. It 
does not blacken the teeth. “It produces neither heartburn, 
diarrhoea, constipation, eructations, nor any gastric disturbance,” 
is the testimony of Becquerel. And to all these good qualities, it 
is an antidote for arsenic quite as efficient as the hydrated sesqui- 
oxide, and has the great advantage of being always ready for use. 
Concerning the therapeutic qualities of Dialysed Iron, the 
following testimony from Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, extracted from an 
account of his ciinic in the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical 
Reporter of July 7, is of particular value. His patient was one 
suffering from nervous exhaustion. He said: 
“As to drugs, I shall give him only iron, and not the subcar- 
bonate of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia which we usually employ, but 
the Dialysed Iron, a neutral solution of the peroxide, with which 
I have been experimenting largely of late. It is commonly given 
in doses of thirty or forty drops a day, which would be a small 
dose, as the solution contains twenty-four grains to the ounce. I 
use it, however, as I use most iron preparations, in far larger 
doses, and have given it freely by the drachm or the half ounce 
without its causing annoyance. The preparation is certainly 12 
tolerated well by some people who do not bear other forms of 
iron; and as it does not blacken the teeth or in any way affect 
the bowels, I have been altogether pleased with it. its freedom 
from unpleasant taste is also no mean advantage. The foreign 
forms of Dialysed Iron are sometimes objectionable, both on 
account of their price, their taste, and the uncertainty of their 
quality. These objections do not apply to the admirable specimens 
of the drug as it is now made, upon a large scale, by John 
Wyeth & Brother, of this city.’’ 
The Boston Journal of Chemistry, (October, 1877), speaks thus 
of Wyeth & Brother’s Dialysed Iron: 
We would call the special attention of the profession to Dialysed 
Iron. It has been long known to the experimental chemists, but 
until lately has not been manufactured in sufficient quantity to 
make it a commercial product. By the method employed by 
Wyeth & Bro., a dark-brown liquid, having little styptic taste, is 
made. This, in connection with the fact that it does not blacken 
the teeth nor disturb the alimentary canal, will recommend it above 
ordinary preparations of iron. It cannot, however, be given in 
composition with any other drug, as it is liable to precipitation, 
the addition of a few drops of undistilled water clouding the so- 
lution. In all cases where the use of iron is indicated, this will 
be found to be the most agreeable mode of prescription. It is a 
pure hydrate, and as efficient as the sesquioxide, in all cases of 
poisoning, when the latter is useful, besides having the additional 
advantage of being always ready for use. 
This receives the endorsement of quotation in the Ohio Medical 
Recorder, for August, 1877. The editor adds: 
We have, ourself, used this preparation of iron, exclusively, for 
the past two months, and with the very best results in every 
respect. Possessed, apparently, of all the tonic properties of the 
old tincture, its use is attended with no constipation, no discolora- 
tion, no irritation, no objections. 
The Canada Journal of Medical Science, speaks of Wyeth’s 
Dialysed Iron as “a very valuable addition to the Materia Medica.” 
The Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, for Sept, 1877, says: 
‘‘It is our impression that the dialysed preparation of iron 
ought to supersede, and that it will soon supersede several other 
preparations, and particularly the tincture of the chloride, in 13 
common use. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, who cannot be suspected of 
puffery, refers to it in a clinical lecture,” etc., the quotation 
given being the same elsewhere found in these pages. 
From the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter, edited by N. C. White : 
Drug, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Notes : 
DIALYSED IRON. 
This preparation has attracted the attention of many of the 
pharmacists and medical profession of Europe for some time past, 
and the experience resulting from its use is so satisfactory, peculiar, 
and wonderful, that it is probably destined soon to become one of 
our most valued therapeutic agents, in a large class of diseases 
where the ordinary iron preparations are objectionable. “With 
this preparation,” says an author, “we are able now to avoid all 
inconveniences which arise from the employment of ordinary ferru- 
ginous preparations.” 
Our attention was called to it some months ago through corres- 
pondence with a customer residing abroad, who spoke so highly 
of it, and mentioned such peculiar and wonderful properties it 
possessed, that led us to inquire more particularly into it. Further 
correspondence stated that this party had taken it as a remedial 
agent for a protracted period without the least inconvenience or 
unpleasant effect, and while under treatment in this country for 
the same ailment, the ordinary iron preparations were prescribed, 
but could not be taken for any considerable time without ex- 
periencing the common trouble so frequently complained of—head- 
ache, constipation, etc. 
The following case, reported in the Philadelphia Medical Times, 
for December 8, by Dr. Thomas B. Reed, a distinguished practi- 
tioner of this city, strikingly illustrates the value of Dialysed Iron 
as an antidote in cases of arsenical poisoning : 
A case of Arsenical Poisoning treated with Dialysed Iron. Thos. B. 
Reed, M. D. 
A case of Arsenical poisoning occurred lately in my private prac- 
tice, which seems to be valuable enough for publication, both on 
account of the completeness of the details, and the intelligence and 
reliability of the patient; but especially as it is, so far as I am aware, 
the first case where the new remedy of “Dialysed Iron” has been, 
put to the test as an antidote. 
As I was leaving my office one morning, a few weeks ago, a young 
lady patient, Miss S., hastily entered, with a face indicative of in- 
tense pain and nervous disturbance, saying, “Doctor, I am poi- 
Philadelphia, November 15, 18 77. 14 
soned.” Her story was as follows:—While attending to the wants of 
a valuable servant who was sick and confined to her bed, Miss S. 
found hidden away in the servant’s trunk, a paper of Arsenious 
Acid, which had been procured by Mrs. S. some weeks before, for use 
as a poison for rats. As this servant had been in ill health for some 
time, and morbid and melancholy, Miss S. at once very naturally, 
and no doubt very rightly supposed, that she had secreted the poison 
for the purpose of taking her own life. Quietly placing the packet 
of Arsenic (which was open) in her pocket, she continued her duties, 
intending at the earliest moment to put it in a safe place. Days 
elapsed, the arsenic was forgotten, stored away in the pocket of her 
wrapper until this unlucky morning, when putting a couple of hand- 
fuls of gum drops and bon-bons into her arsenic pocket, she sat down 
to her sewing machine and her confectionery. She noticed from 
time to time as she sewed, more powder upon the drops than seemed 
usual, but she continued quietly to dust them off as she eat and went 
on with her work. Can anything be more absurdly tragic than this 
unconscious suicide, deliberately eating gum drops powdered with 
arsenic ? Probably an hour and a half passed in this innocent amuse- 
ment, when suddenly “becoming deathly sick, instantly followed 
by intense pain,” as if, as she quaintly expressed it, “she had 
had a pure mustard plaster on the inside of her stomach,” she was 
roused, to the consciousness that some strange mischief was at work. 
Terrified on remembering the arsenic, she attempted, unsuccessfully, 
to relieve her stomach with warm water, then, unwilling to a’arm 
her mother, who was also an invalid, she hastily threw on her street 
dress and hat and hurried to my office, about two blocks away. 
Fortunately for both of us, I had upon my table a sample bottle 
of Dialysed Iron, (John Wyeth & Bro.) and as soon as she told 
me she had taken arsenic, and before she began her story, I ad- 
ministered a half tablespoonful of the Iron well diluted in a tumbler 
of water. This gave her almost instant relief. I repeated the dose in ten 
minutes, and then gave her a bottle of the Iron, directing her to take 
a similar dose every half hour, and later, every hour during the day. 
I saw her at her home in a few hours after, but she had had no return 
of her pain, except some slight cramp in the lower bowel and limbs; 
and a dose of magnesia at night, with mucilaginous drinks, soft food, 
with occasional doses of the Iron well diluted, kept up for a few days, 
completed her cure. At my request the day after her attack, Miss S. 
put into my hands the pocket cut from the wrapper, which she could 
not be persuaded to touch after her poisoning. This I transferred to 
a reliable analytical chemist, from whose report of his examination, 
now in my possession, I condense the following:—“In the pocket 
of a chintz dress I found a small packet labeled Arsenic—Poison,— 
and in this packet a second envelope, open on its long and upper side, 
containing a white powder. Both outer and inner envelopes were 
worn, as letters carried in pockets are. Between the outer and inner 
envelopes, was a white powder, and in the pocket itself, mixed with 
the powder, I found two (2) sugar crystallized, soft gum drops, and 
one (1) sugar coated bon-bon, all three (3) richly covered with the 
powder. The powder, which with a brush I took away from the 
gum drops, and the dragee, weighed 3*4 grains, and tire remaining 
powder, after separating the gum and sugar, weighed grains. 15 
In the pocket I found also, grains of the white powder. The 
powder obtained from the gum drops and dragee gave all the tests 
Arsenious Acid gives.” 
What amount of arsenious acid my patient swallowed, it is of course 
impossible to say. It is certain, that, from this open package of arse- 
nic, a considerable quantity escaped into the pocket, and the gum 
drops were mixed with it, as she states “that she had to dust the pow- 
der off upon her work as she eat,” and the three remaining after, show 
2tV grains of arsenious acid upon them, on examination by the chem- 
ist. I have perhaps been unnecessarily full in the details of this case, 
but I think they have established several facts; ist, That my patient 
did swallow in the space of an hour or more, numerous poisonous 
doses of arsenious acid in powder. 2nd, That I found her with most 
marked symptoms of arsenical poisoning; and 3d, That by the ad- 
ministration of moderate doses of “Dialysed Iron,” well diluted, I 
was enabled to give her immediate and certain relief, and ultimate and 
entire restoration to health. I do not propose in the limits of this 
paper to discuss the exact chemistry of the “ Dialysed Iron.” It is, I 
believe, (when properly prepared, as I have since investigated care- 
fully the process of its formation,) a solution of per-oxide of Iron in 
the colloid form, with perhaps a trace of hydrochloric acid; but that 
it will, when very largely diluted with water, perfectly coagulate ar- 
senious acid in solution, any one can satisfy himself in a five minutes 
test. The only remaining point of interest professionally is, will it 
neutralize arsenious acid when taken in powder {bulk) into the sto- 
mach? It is held by most authorities I believe, that when arsenious 
acid is taken in bulk into the stomach, the Iron antidote is not relia- 
ble. (See Dunglison, R. J., (latest paper on the subject,) in his 
“ Practitioner’s Reference Book,” page 229). Yet we know from daily 
experience that arsenious acid is absorbed by the stomach when taken 
in minute doses, and I think the evidence in this case shows that ar- 
senic in powder did poison, when presented to and acted upon by a 
comparatively empty stomach, (at least three hours having elapsed 
since her breakfast,) and that the solution of per-oxide of Iron, (“Dial- 
ysed Iron,”) did prove a prompt and reliable antidote,coagulating and 
neutralizing the arsenic. Arsenious acid acts as it is dissolved, and the 
antidote, (if supplied,) combines, pari passu, with the solution formed 
by the liquids of the stomach, and renders it inert, before damage is 
done to the mucous coat of the stomach, or it is absorbed into the 
system. Within twenty seconds after I learned that arsenic had been 
swallowed, I sent a full dose of the antidote after the poison, and with 
positive and immediate relief to the patient. My experience with 
“Dialysed Iron” as a pleasant and efficient means of introducing Iron 
into the economy, is too limited for an opinion; but I feel disposed, 
from the history of this case, to strongly recommend it as a safe, 
reliable and always-ready-at-a-moment’s-notice, remedy and antidote 
for arsenical poisoning. 
!Jf27 Walnut Street. 16 
Dr. S. Weir Mitchell having used our Dialysed Iron more largely 
than any other physician, previous to our bringing it to the general 
attention of the medical profession, we asked him to be kind 
enough to advise us if its continued use confirmed his first favorable 
opinion as expressed in his clinical lecture referred to in another 
portion of this paper. He sends us the following gratifying reply:— 
1524 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 
To Wyeth & Brother. 
I am glad to be able to say that now after much more prolonged 
use of your Dialysed Iron, I have more and more reason to be pleased 
with it. As I use the solution in drachm doses, I have had a fair 
chance of testing its power to disturb the patient's functions. So far, 
however, even in these large doses, it does not seem to constipate, 
Uor to affect injuriously the process of digestion. 
Gentlemen : 
Yours truly, 
WEIR MITCHELL. 
Dr. John H. Packard used Wyeth’s Dialysed Iron in a number 
of cases while we were experimenting with it. He writes us the 
following note 
“An extended trial of the Dialysed Iron prepared by Messrs. 
John Wyeth & Brother has convinced me that it is a most valuable 
addition to the Materia Medica, and likely to supersede in great 
degree, the chalybeates heretofore employed. 
The results obtained from it under my observation, have been 
such as fully to justify the strong claims of the manufacturers in 
its behalf.” 
JOHN H. PACKARD. 
1924 Spruce St., Philada., Nov. 7, 1877.