78 
Pills  and  Pill  Coatings, 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t       Feb.,  1878. 
gelatin.  A  second  piece  of  wood,  the  same  size  as  the  pin  board,  is 
so  hollowed  out  in  small  hemispherical  depressions  as  that  one  pill  in 
each  hollow  corresponds  with  each  pin  in  the  pin  board  ;  this  is  for 
the  convenience  of  picking  up  a  quantity  at  once.  When  dry,  the 
whole  are  removed  at  once  by  a  kind  of  comb  with  long  teeth  made  to 
slide  between  the  pins. 
According  to  the  tabulated  results  of  a  number  of  experiments  by 
Mr.  J.  P.  Remington  ("  Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.")  gelatin  coating  is 
not  readily  soluble,  but  the  solvent  used  was  only  water,  and  even  so 
could  not  apply  to  the  coating  containing  glycerin.  By  a  similar 
means  Hawker's  patent  jujubes  are  covered,  and  I  have  never  heard  a 
customer  complain  of  any  difficulty  in  removing  the  coating  ;  it  appears 
to  be  readily  soluble  in  the  mouth. 
Mr.  E.  K.  Durden  proposes  (in  the  journal  just  quoted)  to  cover 
pills  with  collodion  having  a  sp.  gr.  *8io  ;  two  dippings  in  this  are  said 
to  give  an  elegant  appearance  ;  it  is  readily  put  on  and  completely  con- 
ceals the  taste  of  the  medicine.  Valerianate  of  zinc  pills  so  coated, 
which  is  about  as  severe  a  test  as  we  can  apply,  stands  it  moderately 
w.ell.  It  remains,  however,  to  be  proved  how  far  this  coating  is  solu- 
ble in  the  stomach. 
We  now  come  to  sugar  coating.  This  process  is  conducted  by 
manufacturers,  especially  in  America,  on  an  extensive  scale,  and  seems 
daily  to  be  gaining  favor  from  the  profession,  the  pharmacist,  and  the 
public.  It  possesses  the  advantages  of  a  pleasant  taste  and  ready  solu- 
bility, and  whilst  there  might  be  some  doubt  on  the  part  of  the  patient 
as  to  the  prudence  of  frequently  swallowing  pearl  coating  there  certain- 
ly could  be  none  on  the  part  of  the  most  fastidious  as  to  taking  a  small 
quantity  of  sugar.  This  coating  varies  somewhat,  however,  and  the 
purest  sugar  is  not  always  used  to  produce  the  whitest  coating  ;  still 
it  might  be  done  without  any  admixture. 
Numerous  inquiries  have  been  made  of  late  as  to  the  exact  process 
to  be  adopted  for  satisfactorily  accomplishing  this  object,  the  usual  reply 
being,  "  Follow  the  practice  of  the  confectioner  in  the  production  of  his 
comfits,"  about  which  I  may  add  there  is  but  one  secret.  The  process 
is  simply  this  :  pills  well  dried  on  the  surface  are  introduced  into  a  tinned" 
copper  bowl  with  a  flat  bottom,  or  enameled  iron  dish,  the  surface  of 
which  has  been  moistened  with  syrup  or  with  syrup  and  gum  5  they  are 
then  rotated  and  gently  heated,  very  finely  powdered  sugar  is  dusted  on, 
