“A transparent, non-staining gelatinoid of combined iodine with menthol and methyl salicylate.
“Alcohol 070. per cent.
“Chemical tests demonstrate the preparation to contain 5 per cent. of iodine.”
The placing of a cipher before the percentage figure for alcohol, though perhaps accidental and not meant to mislead, might cause a hasty or careless reader to understand 7 per cent. or .07 per cent., instead of 70 per cent., as the proportion of alcohol present.
The preparation examined was a very pale yellowish, translucent solid having a strong odor of methyl salicylate and a fainter odor of menthol. A package sold for 2 ounces contained 51.7 gm. Qualitative tests indicated the presence of alcohol, an iodid, menthol, methyl salicylate, potassium, sodium, combined fatty acids and a trace of glycerin. Thyroid extract was not found. Quantitative examination indicated the following approximate composition for Iosaline:
Alcohol (by weight) | 48.05 | per cent. |
Menthol | 2.07 | per cent. |
Methyl salicylate | 10.25 | per cent. |
Potassium iodid (4.25 per cent. iodin) | 5.55 | per cent. |
Soap | 12.68 | per cent. |
Glycerin | a trace | |
| Water and undetermined matter to make 100 per cent. | ||
Iosaline, therefore, appears to be a solidified, watery-alcoholic solution of soap containing potassium iodid, menthol and methyl salicylate. Physiologic tests carried out by rubbing the preparation on the skin and afterward testing the saliva and the urine for an iodid indicated that none of the potassium iodid is absorbed. Since Iosaline is claimed to contain 70 per cent. of alcohol and 5 per cent. of iodin, the alcohol content is but 68.7 per cent. and the iodin content but 85 per cent. of the amounts claimed. The phrase “combined iodin” is evidently meant to mislead, and adds the element of mystery on which preparations of this class rely so largely.—(From The Journal A. M. A., March 15, 1913.)
NOURRY WINE[R][S]
Abstract of Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry
Nourry Wine (E. Fougera and Co., New York) is a proprietary iodin preparation said to contain 12 per cent. of alcohol and 11⁄2 grains of iodin in combination with tannin to the fluidounce. Experiments made in the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory demonstrate that the iodin contained in Nourry Wine is present either in the form of iodid ions or in a form very readily yielding iodid ions and that therefore its action will be that of ordinary iodid. Yet a circular asserts:
“The Nourry Wine is the one preparation ... able to introduce into the organism the active metalloid liberated little by little from the organic combination....”