18 
MEDICATED PESSARIES AND SUPPOSITORIES. 
Thus far I have written only of Linimentum Belladonri(e; the same remarks 
apply to the process and proportions employed in preparing Linimentum Aconiti. 
The quantity of spirit directed to be used in published forms for making aco- 
nitia is much greater for the exhaustion of the root than is ordered for the 
liniment; but besides this, the root is ordered to be boiled with the spirit, in 
order to extract the impure aconitia; if this be necessary it would seem equally 
so for the preparation of a perfect liniment, and this naturally leads up to 
another suggestion, viz. if these liniments depend upon the impure atropia and 
aconitia contained in them for any benefit to be derived from their use, would 
it not be well to use at once the alkaloids or their salts, adding a sufficiency of 
different colouring-matter to distinguish them by, and thus, with more proba¬ 
bility, obtain certain and uniform preparations ? For, the liniments as now pre¬ 
pared are very likely to vary both in strength and appearance, different samples 
of root producing more or less a greener or browner tint, arising possibly from 
difference of locality and soil, and from the time the roots have been collected 
and dried before being used; a somewhat similar variation in the shade of the 
greenish tint I have also noticed in the tincture of arnica root. From some 
specimens of aconite-root the manufacturers of aconitia, I believe, have great 
difficulty in getting a fair amount of product; this seems a still stronger argu¬ 
ment in favour of the direct employment of the alkaloids. To some these 
remarks may seem crude and superfluous, but it is only by putting one’s thoughts 
into shape, and offering them for the consideration of others, and so comparing 
notes and experiences that the information required and the end desired are to 
be realized, and I feel that it is possible that I may open a subject well deserving 
the attention of practical pharmaceutists. 
May 30, 18G6. 
MEDICATED PESSARIES AND SUPPOSITORIES. 
TO THE EDITOR OE THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—Pray allow me a few words more on “ Medicated Pessaries and Suppo¬ 
sitories.’’ 
Mr. Bosley’s comments in your June number, upon some remarks I made in 
the discussion at the last Pharmaceutical meeting, seem to call for a line or two 
of explanation. I was somewhat annoyed when I read the report of the discus¬ 
sion, in the Journal, to find that, owing to some trifling verbal alterations, the 
sense and intent of what I had said were considerably changed. Those present 
will bear me out in the statement that I did not in any way disparage the ap¬ 
pearance or general character of the specimens exhibited by Mr. Bosley, but that 
I simply expressed a preference, in the case of suppositories, for a somewhat 
different shape, examples of which I then showed. Pessaries I did not allude to 
in any way, there being no material difference in opinion or practice concerning 
them. Even these remarks I should not have made but that the question of 
shape was one of the minor details I had endeavoured to set at rest in my paper. 
Whether a short cone with a wide base, or a longer one with a narrower base, 
is the more suitable form for a suppository is not a question which argument 
will settle, neither is medical evidence much to the purpose, it is simply a case 
for the exercise of common sense. Required, the best shape for a suppository 
of a given weight; I think the obvious answer is, “a cone, as long as may be, 
consistent with sufficient firmness to ensure it^. easy introduction.’’ Of the 
specimens T collected from various makers, previous to writing on the subject, 
those prepared by the Edinburgh houses seemed to me on the whole best 
adapted for the purpose, and my moulds were constructed with a view to ob¬ 
taining a somewhat similar form. 
