ON  PILULE. 
251 
dered  tragacanth  to  one  ounce  of  the  mass,  which  small  quantity 
does  not  impart  an  objectionable  degree  of  hardness. 
A  great  number  of  pills  contain  aloes  as  their  basis,  and  it,  to- 
gether with  some  other  gum-resins,  possesses  abundant  adhesive- 
ness, but  is  very  deficient  in  retentiveness  of  shape,  nor  is  it 
an  easy  matter  to  supply  this  deficiency  with  any  of  the  ordinary 
excipients,  unless  used  in  very  large  proportion.  Conserve  of 
roses,  tragacanth,  &c,  are  very  unsatisfactory.  Soap  and 
glycerine,  or  soap  and  treacle,  answer  very  well  if  the  soap  is 
used  in  considerable  quantity  ;  but  after  numerous  experiments 
I  feel  convinced  that  the  most  satisfactory  method  of  managing 
this  class  of  bodies  is  to  add  some  ingredient  of  an  insoluble  and 
fibrous  nature,  which  will  form  the  framework  of  the  pill ;  and, 
for  this  purpose,  nothing  is  better  than  woody  fibre  in  a  fine  state 
of  division,  such  as  is  obtained  by  putting  sawdust  through  a  sieve 
40x40  meshes  to  the  inch.  Six  grains  of  this  "  Pulvis  Ligni" 
with  six  minims  of  glycerine  will  form  thirty-six  grains  of  extract 
of  aloes  into  a  good  workable  mass,  divisible  into  ten  moderate 
sized  pills,  which  retain  their  shape  perfectly  for  six  or  eight 
months,  and,  though  they  become  very  tough,  still  yield  to  the 
warmth  of  the  hand.  I  do  not  know  any  other  excipient  which 
will  effect  so  much  without  making  the  pills  inconveniently  large. 
There  will  probably  be  a  feeling  with  many  against  the  use  of  so 
vulgar  a  material  as  sawdust ;  if  so,  it  might  be  replaced  by  pure 
lignin,  or  in  some  cases  by  Pulvis  Cinchonae,  &c. 
Mr.  Muskett  objected  to  my  suggestion  of  omitting  the  Extract 
of  Gentian  in  Pilula  Aloes  Composita,  on  the  ground  that  the 
gentian  increases  the  action  of  the  aloes,  and  refers  to  Dr.  Paris's 
Pharmacologia  as  his  authority  on  this  point.  Dr.  Paris's  re- 
mark that  bitters  have  the  property  of  increasing  the  action  of 
senna,  and  other  aperients  deficient  in  bitterness,  scarce  appears 
to  apply  to  such  a  medicine  as  aloes.  If  Mr.  Muskett's  view  be 
correct,  Pulvis  Cinchonse  would  answer  the  double  purpose  of 
improving  the  physical  as  well  as  augmenting  the  medicinal 
properties  of  this  preparation. 
If  the  requisite  quantity  of  dry  excipient,  soap,  lignin,  or 
gum,  were  ascertained,  and  ordered  to  be  rubbed  with  the  medicinal 
ingredients  of  the  pill,  and  then  an  ascertained  quantity  of  the 
fluid  excipient,  glycerine,  water,  mucilage,  or  spirit,  directed  to 
