34 
Sugar-Coated  Pills. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pliarm  . 
1    January.  1902. 
aromatic  that  will  cover  up  a  want  ot  the  true  remedy  that  ought 
to  be  the  chief  constituent.  Then,  again,  every  well-informed  and 
experienced  pharmacist  knows  that  the  compounding  of  pill-masses 
requires  much  care  and  judgment  in  the  methods  of  manipulation 
and  the  selection  of  excipients  which  will  make  the  "  mass  "  a  good 
one  to  work  and  still  remain  in  good  condition  even  when  long  kept 
— these  two  points  being  accepted  as  indisputable,  the  coating  of 
the  pill  must  be  done  with  such  materials  as  will  not  be  insoluble  in 
the  juices  and  acids  of  the  stomach.  The  materials  employed  are 
gum  arabic,  starch,  small  quantities  of  wheat  flour,  and  sugar  in 
form  of  syrup.  A  quantity  of  pills  are  placed  in  a  "  pan  "  which 
rotates  in  a  very  peculiar  way  quite  different  from  the  confectioners' 
steam-coating  pan,  and  a  small  quantity  of  syrup  about  half  the 
density  of  simple  syrup  is  poured  on  them,  the  whole  mass  of  pills 
rolling  in  the  pan  soon  becomes  moistened  and  while  moist  a  quantity 
of  gum  arabic  is  thrown  in  and  a  light  coating  of  gum  is  thus  given 
them,  all  unnecessary  gum  is  removed  and  the  sugar  coating  begins 
with  an  amount  of  syrup  in  which  is  mixed  a  little  flour  and  enough 
finely  powdered  starch  to  render  it  opaque.  The  pills  soon  become 
sticky  and  form  into  a  mass  which  must  be  stirred  rapidly  by  the 
operator  to  set  them  free,  and  then  they  begin  to  roll  around  in  the 
pan  each  as  an  independent  body,  they  must  then  roll  until  quite 
dry  when  the  process  is  repeated — each  successive  coat  rendering 
the  pill  whiter  and  rounder.  When  they  are  well  covered  then 
plainer  syrup,  that  is,  one  containing  less  starch,  is  used,  and  as  they 
become  smoother  plain  syrup  is  used,  after  a  time  thinner  syrup  is 
used,  and  finally  less  and  less  will  be  required  to  moisten  them.  So 
fine  a  surface  is  at  last  imparted  to  them  that  100,000  pills  will 
become  moist  with  the  addition  of  two  or  three  tablespoonfuls  of 
syrup.  This  is  practically  ail  that  can  be  written  about  the  subject. 
The  success  of  making  a  fine-looking  lot  of  sugar-coated  pills  is  to 
be  learned  only  by  working  at  the  pan  until  you  can  do  it. 
Adulteration  in  England. — The  report  of  the  Local  Government  Board 
shows  (Chem.  and  Drug.,  i9or,  650)  that  the  total  number  of  samples  of  foods 
and  drugs  analyzed  in  1900  was  62,858 ;  the  analysts  reported  against  5,503  of 
the  samples  examined;  proceedings  were  taken  in  3,321  cases;  and  penalties 
were  imposed  in  2,673  of  these. 
