30  Making  of  Compressed  Tablets.  {^I'J^^mT' 
efit.  In  conclusion,  it  may  be  stated  that  active  work  has  been 
begun  on  the  San  Francisco  Garden  of  Medicinal  Plants.  About 
eight  acres  of  ground  in  Golden  Gite  Park  are  set  aside  ;  some  400 
or  500  different  species  of  medicinal  plants  will  be  seeded  or  planted 
in  January,  1 904,  and  additions'  will  be  made  as  rapidly  as  possiole. 
California  Collfge  of  Pharmacy, 
Paknassus  Avenue,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
MAKING  OF  COMPRESSED  TABLETS. 
By  George  B.  Weidemann. 
If  a  pharmacist  wishes  to  manufacture  compressed  tablets  and 
triturates  he  can  do  so  very  economically,  as  the  apparatus  necessary 
for  such  work  will  be  found  in  every  drug  store,  with  the  exception 
of  the  machine,  and  its  purchase  is  his  only  real  expense. 
The  preparation  of  the  material  to  be  compressed  is  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  work,  for  each  substance  has  its  own  peculiarity 
and  must  be  treated  in  a  little  different  manner,  but  the  general  plan 
of  procedure  is  the  same. 
The  ingredients  must  first  be  reduced  to  a  very  fine  powder, 
granulated,  dried  and  lubricated  before  it  is  ready  to  compress. 
After  thoroughly  mixing  the  powder,  to  granulate,  water,  d'lute 
alcohol,  or  a  mixture  of  syrup  and  water,  are  the  substances  usually 
employed,  but  water  makes  a  firmer  granule,  which  is  less  liable  to 
disintegrate  in  handling. 
The  powder  is  moistened  until  it  has  the  consistency  of  dough 
and  is  then  forced  through  a  No.  16  or  No.  20  sieve  and  dried.  For 
a  small  tablet  or  triturate  a  Nj.  20  sieve  is  better,  but  for  larger 
tablets  a  No.  16  sieve  is  used. 
To  facilitate  drying,  a  drying  oven  may  be  used,  but  this  is  not 
necessary,  for  if  spread  on  paper  in  a  dry  place  the  granules  will 
dry  very  quickly;  but,  if  this  method  is  employed,  a  piece  of  paper 
should  be  laid  over  the  material  to  keep  out  particles  of  dust. 
After  the  material  is  thoroughly  dry,  it  is  lubricated,  and  for  this 
several  substances  are  used.  The  manufacturers  spray  the  granules 
with  liquid  petrolatum,  using  10  or  12  drops  to  the  pound,  and 
about  2  per  cent,  of  talcum  is  added  to  prevent  the  material  from 
adhering  to  the  dies;  but  I  have  found  this  very  unsatisfactory,  for 
if  only  a  few  drops  too  much  of  liquid  petrolatum  are  added  the 
