118 
PHARMACEUTICAL  GLEANINGS. 
experiment  and  observation,  and  as  a  result  a  home  pharmaceu- 
tical literature  sprung  up,  a  National  Pharmacopoeia  was  adopted, 
the  U.  S.  Dispensatory,  and  Ellis'  Formulary  were  issued  from 
the  College  of  Pharmacy  faculty,  a  general  improvement  begun 
to  manifest  itself  in  every  department  of  the  business,  and  brought 
a  corresponding  increase  of  public  patronage;  thus  a  higher  ap- 
preciation of  the  pharmaceutic  art,  and  a  more  liberal  spirit 
toward  its  votaries  growing  out  of  efforts  originating  with  the 
druggists  themselves,  has  taught  the  descendants  of  these  worthy 
pioneers  that  the  further  elevation  and  improvement  of  their  pro- 
fession rests  on  their  own  shoulders ;  and  that  in  union  there  is 
strength. 
(To  be  continued.) 
PHARMACEUTICAL  GLEANINGS. 
New  Pill  Machine. — The  following  description  of  Lewis's 
Patent  Pill  Machine  is  taken  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  for 
December,  1853.  It  is  an  improvement  on  that  of  Pond  and 
Morse,  figured  in  our  last  volume,  and  overcomes  the  chief  diffi- 
culty in  the  use  of  the  latter  apparatus,  that  of  discharging  the 
pills  from  the  hemispherical  moulds  after  they  are  formed. 
"  The  machine  consists  of  two  metal  cylinders  or  rollers,  having 
on  their  surface  a  series  of  hemispherical  indentations  or  cups, 
corresponding  in  shape  and  size  to  half  a  pill,  so  that  when  the 
rollers  are  brought  into  contact  side  by  side,  and  a  rotary  motion 
given  them,  the  hemispheres  in  each  fall  opposite  each  other, 
forming  a  series  of  spherical  moulds,  in  which,  in  working,  the 
pills  are  cast.  The  arrangement  for  working  the  rollers  consists 
of  two  uprights,  in  and  between  which  they  are  fixed  side  by  side 
so  as  to  revolve  on  their  axles.  Motion  is  communicated  by  means 
of  a  handle  attached  to  a  small  pinion,  fitting  a  cog-wheel  at  the 
side  of  one  of  the  rollers,  at  the  other  side  of  which  is  another 
cog-wheel  fitting  a  corresponding  one  on  the  other  roller;  these 
being  accurately  adjusted  cause  each  other  to  revolve  with  equal 
speed  so  as  always  to  bring  the  hemispheres  opposite  each 
other.  The  pill  mass  is  introduced  (by  means  of  a  small  hopper, 
between  the  two  rollers  while  in  motion,  and  as  from  their  being  in 
close  contact  it  cannot  pass  through,  it  is  pressed  into  the  hemi- 
spheres, and  the  pills  are  thus  formed,  which  are  collected  from 
