206     EXTEMPORANEOUS  PHARMACEUTICAL  PREPARATIONS. 
sion  with  one  drachm  each  of  sugar  and  gum  arabic,  and  a  suf- 
ficient quantity  of  water  to  measure  one  fluid-ounce.  A  slight 
deposit  occurred. 
Pills  of  Iron  hy  Hydrogen,  ^c— Pills  of  perfectly  insoluble 
substances,  such  as  iron  by  hydrogen,  can  be  very  readily  made 
into  a  tough  mass,  of  a  perfectly  satisfactory  consistence,  by  the 
use  of  a  small  portion,  five  grains  to  the  drachm,  of  powdered 
tragacanth,  with  honey.  No  water  must  be  used,  or  the  mass 
will  become  brittle.  The  only  objection  offered  to  this  plan,  is, 
that  the  pills  become  very  hard  ;  but  I  have  found  that,  even 
after  having  been  made  several  months,  they  are  perfectly  soft- 
ened by  maceration  in  water  for  half  an  hour.  This  process 
will  answer  very  well  for  pills  of  sulphate  of  quinine,  as  it  makes 
them  small  and  compact,  and  not  liable  to  flatten. 
Pills  of  Qamphor. — There  is  frequently  great  difficulty  experi- 
enced in  compounding  recipes  containing  camphor,  to  produce  a 
mass  of  good  pilular  consistence;  this  difficulty  maybe  obviated  by 
the  use  of  soap  and  honey  as  excipients,  unless  they  are  contra- 
indicated  by  the  accompanying  constituents  of  the  prescription. 
Sugar  coating  pills  for  prescriptions. — Pills  may  be  very  con- 
veniently coated  with  sugar  for  extemporaneous  prescriptions, 
by  first  moistening  the  pills  with  a  strong  solution  of  balsam  of 
tolu  in  ether  or  chloroform,  throwing  them  immediately  into  a 
box  containing  sugar  in  a  very  fine  powder,  and  shaking  the  box 
for  a  few  minutes.  The  application  may  be  repeated  if  the  first 
coating  is  not  as  thick  as  would  be  desirable.  This  process  is 
expeditious  and  satisfactory,  after  a  few  attempts,  and  offers  no 
resistance  to  the  solution  of  the  pill  in  the  juices  of  the  stomach. 
If  the  pills  are  soluble  in  the  ether,  a  thick  mucilage  of  traga- 
canth or  gum  arabic  may  be  substituted. 
Mesults  of  an  examination  of  a  deposit  found  in  Anise 
water. — A  precipitate  observed  in  anise  water  consisted  of 
a  crystalline  scaly  substance,  with  an  insoluble  flocculent  matter. 
I  first  treated  this  precipitate  with  very  dilute  nitric  acid, 
which  dissolved  out  the  crystalline  substance ;  bicarbonate  of 
potassa  added  to  this  solution  caused  a  precipitation.  Chloro- 
hydric  acid  had  the  same  effect  as  nitric.  The  flocculent  mat- 
ter was  insoluble  in  all  the  solvents  tried. 
