April 1, 1871-] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
787 
pills in sifted arrowroot. A beautiful white pill is 
formed, which, by fastidious persons, is preferred to 
pills rolled in liquorice powder or lycopodium. Some 
authors object to the use of glycerine , on account of 
technical difficulties, but I have always found it the 
most convenient excipient for general pill-making, 
having seldom to resort to any other. Then its ten¬ 
dency to prevent the pills from becoming hard will 
.fully compensate any additional labour that may now 
•and then attend its use. 
Several of our physicians prescribe sulph. quinia witli 
tartaric acid, according to a formula published some 
years ago. Quinia pills so formed may possess some 
advantage over the simple quinine pills, being probably 
more readily dissolved and assimilated. The following 
is the formula:— 
Take of Sulphate of Quinia, 30 grs. 
Tartaric Acid, 4 grs. 
Water, 1 drop. 
Mix, and make pills of the required quantity. 
The single drop of water is sufficient to form 30 grs. 
of quinia into a plastic mass, which must, however, be 
Tolled into pills rapidly, else it becomes hard and more 
water is required. 
These pills, like the preceding, should preferably be 
rolled in sifted arrowroot; in fact, all pills composed of 
colourless substances should be rolled in this powder, as 
it, apart from other considerations, necessitates the ut¬ 
most cleanliness. 
Carbolic acid in pills is occasionally prescribed. I have 
never met with any particular formula, and suggest the 
following as convenient and satisfactory :•— 
Take of Carbolic Acid, 1 part 
Powdered Elm Bark, 3 parts 
Gum Arabic, 1 part 
Tragacanth Paste, a sufficiency. 
Mix, and make pills of the required size, which may 
bo coated with tolu or silver leaf. 
Muriate of Ammonia, when required in form of pills, 
•demands very careful handling, on account of its ready 
solubility. By adding about ten per cent, of powdered 
-gum arabic, and sufficient tragacanth paste to simply 
moisten, pills are readily formed by the aid of glycerine. 
Ammonio-ferric Alum is sometimes required in the 
form of pills. A handsome pill is produced by adding 
about one-eighth part of powd. gum arabic, and. making 
the mass with glycerine, being careful to avoid an ex¬ 
cess.— The Chicago Pharmacist. 
QUINIA, AND SOME ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES IN 
PRESCRIPTIONS AS TONICS AND EFFICACIOUS 
ANTIPERIODICS. 
BY J. B. R. BURNELL, M.D. 
The object of what follows (a part of which has before 
appeared in the Medical and Surgical Reporter , Oct. 1869) 
is not to allude to medicine of agreeable taste any more 
than to speak of certain combinations as more efficacious 
■antiperiodics than quinia sulphate alone. Nevertheless, 
-.a knowledge of means of disguising any disagreeable 
taste—whenever this is possible without damage to re¬ 
medial power—is and ought to be admitted as important, 
:a palatable remedy being essential in a great many cases 
To comfort, in not a few to a cure. And, having noticed 
several accounts of formuke intended to conceal the 
bitterness of quinia, I am induced to make some state¬ 
ments-—conclusions which I think can be relied upon, 
being arrived at by some years of observation and many 
•experiments made with care. 
Ext. glycyrrhizm alone (better with a little tannic 
■acid) answers a good purpose with many patients, but a 
large proportion is usually required (5 grs. may be used 
for each grain of quinia sulphate or 2 grs. of cinchonia 
sulphate), and I find the taste of the extract is more often 
objected to than that of some other things that may be 
used ; hence the importance of a knowledge, if possible, 
of a variety of substances to be employed to destroy the 
bitterness. 
Tannic acid used in large proportion with quinia sul¬ 
phate—less for cinchonia sulphate or the alkaloid quinia 
—conceals the bitteimess, and the fact may be well known 
to the profession generally, or the majority; but it is 
probably not generally known that a slightly bitter taste 
of tannate of quinia—more properly a minute portion of 
precipitated quinine—-will be perceived, though not 
until about half a minute after swallowing the mixture. 
The same is perceived, to some extent, in the case of any 
other combination by which the bitterness of quinia or 
cinchonia is disguised, but is probably more distinct with 
the tannic acid mixture; to prevent this it is only neces 
sary to rinse the mouth with water, or with cold tea, 
which is better. 
In the first place, however, it is important to know 
whether the medical properties of a remedy are at all im¬ 
paired by the substance used to disguise its taste; and 
there is evidence that there are many practitioners who 
would be unwilling to depend upon quinia sulphate com¬ 
bined with tannic acid in large proportion as an anti- 
periodic. 
Quinia in the form of tannate in solution (or rather, in 
mixture) I have used for several years (in over a thou¬ 
sand cases), and believe it to be in no case less, often¬ 
times more, efficient as an antiperiodic than sulphate of 
quinia alone. 
Without the aid of any other substance 8 grains of 
tannic acid will bo required to entirely cover the taste of 
10 grains of quinia sulphate; it is better, however, to 
use less, and in combination with aromatics unless an 
astringent be indicated. But the roughness of tannic 
acid is unpleasant to many persons. To prevent this, 
add sugar in abundance and a little aromatic. But if 
sick stomach should be present much sugar cannot be 
retained or w r ill be refused (true at least in the majority 
of cases), and this will be a trouble; and if to the same 
person the taste of tannic acid should bo very unplea¬ 
sant, there will be another trouble, and the difficulty wi 1 
bo increased. Now in this case, as well as the case of a 
patient who for any other reason objects both to sweet 
medicine and tannic acid, if, wdiile employing but little 
sugar, we use rather less tannic acid and a large instead 
of a small quantity of aromatic, and dilute the dose suf¬ 
ficiently—though unnecessary to dilute very largely— 
we shail generally succeed. Though in regard to quinia 
sulphate directly, a small quantity of aromatic, however 
used, can accomplish nothing, and the effect of a large 
quantity, when employed alone, is too trivial to make it 
useful, the same (large quantity)“will nevertheless assist 
much in disguising it, provided a certain proportion ot 
tannic acid be present. 
Some persons who sweeten quinine, expecting by this 
means to somewhat diminish the bitter taste, only add to 
the trouble, for the bitterness is increased by the addi¬ 
tion of sugar without any other substance, or at least is 
not lessened in the slightest degree, and is caused to bo 
perceived for a much longer time for the reason probably 
that it imparts an adhesive property to the solution 
which, consequently, remains longer on the organs of 
taste and penetrates. 
Cinchona, though containing the alkaloids and not 
usually requiring tannic acid—a fact readily accounted 
for from the presence of cincho-tannic acid—will be suf¬ 
ficiently disguisod by the use of sugar, cinnamon and 
orange. Tr. cinchome comp., already containing aurantu 
cort.” will require only sugar and cinnamon. For tr. 
gentianm comp, tannic acid and sugar may be used, 
though the addition of syr. sarsaparilla comp, or ext. 
sars. 11. co. will greatly improve it, or either of the last 
two named with an aromatic alone can be employed. A 
palatable and efficient elixir of cinchona may be tound in 
