QUINIA  PILL  MASS. 
7 
expressed  liquid,  and  when  it  has  all  disappeared  from  the  sur- 
face, continue  the  percolation  with  water  until  the  whole  measures 
one  pint.  Agitate  occasionally  until  the  sugar  is  dissolved,  and 
strain  if  necessary.    Dose  from  a  dessert-  to  a  tablespoonful. 
The  cost  of  the  materials  to  make  one  pint  of  this  syrup  is 
about  thirty  cents. 
The  strained  tar,  such  as  is  usually  sold  in  gallon  cans,  an- 
swers well  for  this  purpose,  but  when  it  is  not  at  hand  the  crude 
tar  may  be  dissolved  in  a  small  quantity  of  ether  and  strained, 
a.nd  the  ether  allowed  to  evaporate  spontaneously. 
This  syrup  may  be  made  without  the  use  of  alcohol,  if  desired, 
by  substituting  water  for  the  latter  and  increasing  the  amount 
of  sugar  to  about  fifteen  troy  ounces  ;  but  the  amount  of  alcohol 
in  the  preparation  being  so  small  that  it  is  not  therapeutically 
objectionable,  while  it  greatly  assists  in  exhausting  the  tar  of  its 
medicinal  virtues. 
Philadelphia^  October,  1868. 
NOTE  ON  QUINIA  PILL  MASS. 
By  Wm.  p.  Creecy.  ' 
Mr.  Editor^  I  desire  to  present  to  your  consideration  a  method 
that  is  in  use  in  our  prescription  department  as  a  more  speedy 
and  elegant  way  of  dispensing  quinine  in  recipes  where  pills  are 
directed. 
We  are  in  the  habit  of  keeping  prepared  a  "  quinine  mass," 
made  by  breaking  up  the  crystals  of  the  quinine  with  dil.  sulph. 
acid,  and  making  up  the  mass  with  honey  and  glycerin  in  the 
proportion  of  2  parts  of  honey  to  1  of  glycerine.  This  mass 
'will  contain  about  15  per  cent,  of  extra  weight,  and  by  using 
IJ  grs.  additional  in  every  10  of  quinine  you  can  obtain  the 
amount  of  quinine  prescribed. 
The  advantages  claimed  for  this  preparation  are  its  "  plas- 
ticity," ready  solubility  in  the  stomach,  the  economy  of  time 
in  the  dispensing  of  all  quinine  recipes,  and  the  diminution  in 
bulk  of  the  pill. 
Not  being  aware  of  this  method  being  in  use  generally,  I  give 
it  for  your  approval. 
ViCKSBURG,  Miss.,  Nov.,  1868. 
