414 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [November 19, 1870. 
Mix to form a mass which may he divided into two- 
grain pills, each containing a quarter of a grain of nitrate 
of silver. The mass rolls out well. Keep them from ex¬ 
posure to the air and light. 
For per chloride of mercury pills :— 
Perchloride of mercury, 6 grains. 
Distilled water . . 48 minims. 
Heat in a test-tube till dissolved, and add it to 
Glycerine mass, 48 grains. 
Flour ... 96 grains. 
Mix well and divide into ninety-six two-grain pills, 
each of which will contain a sixteenth of a grain of per¬ 
chloride of mercury. 
In recommending these excipients, glycerine mass and 
bread mass , for general use, I consider them therapeu¬ 
tically the best, but pharmaceutically they are not always 
so, as glycerine has some affinity for moisture, and pills 
containing it suffer if exposed to this in any way ; a damp 
situation or a very humid state of the atmosphere, will 
sometimes spoil the appearance of a batch of them. But 
in the use of these masses as excipients for the extempo¬ 
raneous dispensing of pills, the utmost cleanliness may 
be observed, as they are not viscid or clammy like trea¬ 
cle, syrup or pure glycerine. They likewise keep pills 
more plastic than the other excipients used, and they are 
more neutral in their chemical action than those in 
general use. 
Substances like nitrate of silver and perchloride of 
mercury may form different combinations with the albu¬ 
minoid principles contained in the Horn', but in such state 
they will probably be quite as readily assimilated, and have 
a similar medicinal action, as physiologists affirm that most 
metallic substances enter into the blood as albuminates. 
I have had some fear lest the gluten contained in the 
flour might favour some decomposition similar to fer¬ 
mentation, but such, from nearly two years’ use of them, 
I have never yet seen take place, the glycerine seems to 
check anything of the kind. The crude gluten obtained 
In the moist condition from flour, I find is nearly entirely 
soluble in glycerine, the solution does not appear to un¬ 
dergo any change when kept. 
Taking these points into consideration, and the fact 
that the masses I have suggested form economical exci¬ 
pients, and for hospitals, where some quantity of these are 
needed and form an item in their expenditure, I think 
they may meet with some favour. 
A mixture of glycerine and tragacanth is often used, 
and produces very similar results to those I have ob¬ 
tained from the glycerine mass. I have not had much 
experience with such a mixture, but I find it makes a 
more elastic paste, which is often a disadvantage, as it 
causes the pills to have a certain amount of springiness, 
and renders them difficult to form perfectly globular. 
Glycerine of starch, or a mixture of glycerine of starch 
and flour, do not form such adhesive pastes as those I 
have used. 
Phosphorus is sometimes ordered in a pilular form; 
and to exhibit it in that condition, oil of theobroma is a 
good excipient. One per cent, of phosphorus may be 
readily dissolved in this by the following process:— 
Having melted the oil contained in a wide-mouthed 
bottle placed in a w r ater-bath, add the phosphorus, and 
partially closing the mouth of the bottle, heat till this 
too melts, and the temperature of the mixture becomes 
about 180° F. Then cork it tightly, and with a little brisk 
-agitation the phosphorus will dissolve almost immedi¬ 
ately. Allow the fluid to cool and solidify; and having 
in this condition divided it into suitable lots for rolling, 
beat each in a mortar to render it plastic before applying 
it to the machine, and work off quickly. A three-grain pill 
will contain of a grain of phosphorus. They may be 
•coated with a solution of sandarach in absolute alcohol in 
the following manner:—place the pills in a covered pot, 
and pour upon them a few drops of the solution, agitate 
well, and turn them out upon a slab, separate them from 
each other and allow them to dry in the ah’. This gives 
them a tolerably impervious coating. The process ot 
coating may be repeated if necessary. 
For dried sulphate of iron , of which a large quantity 
is sometimes ordered in a pill, I find syrup is the best 
excipient. No form of glycerine seems to answer well 
for this substance. The water in the syrup for a time 
appears to have more affinity for the sugar than it has to 
form water of crystallization for the sulphate, and a 
little syrup therefore keeps the mass plastic for a suffi¬ 
cient length of time, that it can easily be rolled into pdls. 
Five grains of this substance can thus be made into a 
small pill. 
In conclusion, you are well aware the task of pill¬ 
making is not always an easy one, as frequently sub¬ 
stances are ordered together in a pill-mass which have 
great repulsion for each other—the dexterous reconciling 
of them brings into play much of the art of pharmacy. 
Note ox Hydrargyrum c. Creta. 
BY M. J. ELLWOOD. 
A sample of hyd. c. creta sent out by a London firm 
came recently under my notice. Its black colour and 
exceedingly strong metallic taste at once attracted my 
attention, and aroused my curiosity as to its manufacture. 
I remember a paper being read at the Birmingham meet¬ 
ing, describing a new method for preparing blue pill, the 
mercury being obtained in a state of fine division by pre¬ 
cipitation from mercuric chloride with stannous chloride. 
I have no doubt this grey powder was prepared by a 
similar process as regards the mercury. To ascertain 
the truth of my supposition, I prepared a small quantity 
of precipitated mercury and mixed it in its moist state 
with the proper proportion of chalk, and dried with a gen¬ 
tle heat. The resulting powder resembled the original in 
colour and general appearance, but had not quite so 
strong a taste, probably owing to the precipitated mer¬ 
cury prepared by myself having been very carefully 
washed from any traces of tin. 
I send a sample of that prepared by myself, but regret 
to say that the original sample was destroyed; that sent, 
however, will give you a pretty accurate idea of it. 
Since writing the above, I have referred to the dis¬ 
cussion attendant on the reading of Mr. Benger’s paper 
on “ Blue Pill,” and find that Mr. Brady remarked that 
the process alluded to might possibly answer for prepar¬ 
ing grey powder. Some manufacturer evidently took 
the hint at the time, for the bottle from which the sam¬ 
ple was taken was marked as received into stock in 1866, 
just one year after the Birmingham meeting. 
MiCROSCoric Examination of Extracts made from. 
Officinal Tinctures. 
BY M. J. ELLWOOD. 
Messrs. Deane and Brady’s interesting papers on 
“ Microscopic Analysis applied to Pharmacy,” induced 
me to repeat their experiments on opium preparations, 
and afterwards to extend my researches to several of the 
officinal tinctures. I prepared slides of ten tinctures ac¬ 
cording to the plan recommended by Messrs. Doane and 
Brady; after a lapse of from two to eighteen months, 
and in two cases more than two years, crystals have ap¬ 
peared in— 
Tincture of Belladonna. 
„ Conium. 
,, Digitalis. 
Purified ,, Opium (B. and D.’s form). 
I may also state that a very gradual growth of crys¬ 
tals has continued up to the present time, now nearly 
three years since the_experiments were made. 
