Am.  Tour.  Pharm. 
Feb  ,  1878. 
Pills  and  Pill  Coatings. 
73 
PILLS  AND  PILL  COATINGS. 
By  Charles  Symes,  Ph.D. 
Read  bejore  the  Liverpool  Chemists''  Association,  November  22,  1877. 
The  pilular  form  of  medicine  is  one  which  has  received  considerable 
attention  at  the  hands  of  pharmacists,  and  so  much  has  already  been 
written  and  said  concerning  it  that  a  difficulty  presents  itself  to  me  in 
bringing  the  subject  forward  to  offer  much  that  is  really  original ;  I 
can,  however,  give  some  of  the  results  of  my  experience,  record  and 
estimate  certain  known  facts  as  they  appear  to  me  of  more  or  less 
value,  and  thus  submit  my  views  of  the  matter  which  might  not  be  un- 
interesting, inasmuch  as  we  know  by  daily  experience  that  just  as  the 
same  ray  of  light  falling  on  different  bodies  is  either  absorbed,  trans- 
mitted or  reflected,  and  these  in  different  degrees,  so  the  same  phe- 
nomenon impinging  on  different  minds  is  differently  received  and 
produces  a  different  impression,  or,  as  we  commonly  say,  is  seen  from 
different  points  of  view. 
The  pill  is  a  concentrated  and  portable  form  of  medicine  and  often 
contains  ingredients  which  would  be  exceedinglv  nauseous  if  taken  in 
a  liquid  state  ;  it  requires  no  measuring  out  of  dose  and  is  thus  exceed- 
ingly convenient  ;  we  cannot,  therefore,  be  surprised  that  it  has  become 
very  popular,  and  that  the  skill  of  the  pharmacist  has  been  taxed  to  its 
utmost  to  bring  into  this  form  a  large  variety  of  substances,  to  enhance 
its  keeping  qualities  by  every  conceivable  means,  and  to  cover  it  in  a 
manner  which  at  once  renders  it  both  elegant  and  tasteless.  The  first 
operation  in  the  production  of  pills  is  of  course  that  of  weighing  out 
the  ingredients.  I  mention  this  because  I  fear  it  is  not  always  as  care- 
fully done  as  it  might  be  ;  often  the  same  balances  are  used  to  weigh 
one  grain  and  one  hundred.  Now  as  the  knife  edges  will  necessarily 
become  somewhat  blunted  by  these  heavier  weights,  their  delicacy  will 
become  impaired  and  they  will  thus  be  rendered  unsuitable  for  weighing 
small  quantities  of  active  substances.  For  these  I  prefer  the  German 
balances  with  graduated  beam  and  sliding  weight  or  rider,  capable  of 
weighing  from  one-tenth  to  live  or  ten  grains  and  not  more;  then  for 
larger  quantities  or  less  potent  substances  the  ordinary  dispensing  bal- 
ance weighing  from  a  few  grains  to  one  hundred  ;  and  for  anything 
above  this  quantity  a  small  well  made  pair  of  counter  scales  should  be 
used.  These  latter  will  of  course  only  be  required  when  the  patient 
wants  a  large  supply,  or  for  the  manufacture  of  stock  pills. 
