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ON  PILLS  OF   SULPHATE  OF  QUINIA. 
either  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeias.  In  our  own  officinal  direc- 
tions, in  the  edition  of  1850,  gum  arabic  and  honey  are  prescribed, 
while  in  that  of  1840  gum  arabic  and  syrup  were  the  excipients. 
The  use  of  gum  arabic  and  syrup  was  abandoned  on  account  of 
the  pills  becoming  insoluble  by  keeping.  Gum  arabic  and  honey 
used  together  are  probably  less  objectionable.  The  omission  of 
the  gum  entirely  is  perhaps  an  improvement,  honey  answering  the 
purpose  alone.  As  quinine  is  now  more  frequently  prescribed  in 
2,  3  and  5  grain  doses  than  in  the  one  grain  dose  that  used  to  be 
given,  it  is  a  desideratum  to  use  an  excipient  which  will  produce 
the  smallest  possible  increase  of  bulk  at  the  same  time  that  it  gives 
a  plastic  mass. 
The  following  formula  is,  I  think,  preferable  to  those  in  which 
gum  arabic  is  employed,  as  w7ell  for  the  diminutive  size  as  for  the 
increased  solubility  of  the  pills  : 
Take  of  sulphate  of  quinia       J  2  grains. 
Powdered  tragacanth     1  grain. 
Triturate  the  powders  thoroughly  together,  and  add  sufficient  water 
to  form  a  plastic  mass.    Divide  this  into  the  required  number  of 
pills.    Made  in  this  way  a  three  grain  pill  is  not  inconveniently 
large. 
The  use  of  simple  water  as  an  excipient  is,  I  am  told,  common 
in  domestic  practice  in  the  Southern  Slates.  The  mass  produced 
in  this  way  possesses  too  little  adhesiveness  to  render  it  satisfac- 
tory. Tannic  acid  has  been  used  of  late  with  a  view  to  diminish- 
ing the  intense  bitterness  of  the  quinine,  but  has  not  found  favor 
generally,  as  far  as  my  observation  has  extended.  How  far  the 
known  insolubility  of  the  tannate  of  quinia  in  water  should  operate 
against  this  combination  is  a  question  for  the  therapeutist.  Con- 
serve of  roses,  in  addition  to  its  bulk,  may  be  objectionable  in  this 
as  in  some  other  cases,  on  the  score  of  containing  tannic  acid, 
which  it  does  when  made  from  Rosa  gallica. 
The  following  formula  I  have  used  for  several  years  with  great 
satisfaction  to  myself  and  to  those  physicians  who  have  prescribed 
it.    It  was  first  suggested  by  a  southern  medical  student. 
Take  of  sulphate  of  quinia,  20  grains. 
Aromatic  sulphuric  acid,         15  drops. 
Drop  the  acid  into  the  sulphate  of  quinia  on  a  tile  or  slab,  and 
triturate  with  a  spatula  until  it  assumes  a  pilular  consistence ; 
