I  o4  Sugar-coated  Pills.  {Ami&/i87h7arm 
A  WORD  IN  DEFENCE  OF  SUGAR-COATED  PILLS. 
By  J.  B.  Moore. 
The  practice  of  sugar-coating  pills  has  been  for  some  time  the  sub- 
ject of  severe,  and  I  think,  unjust  criticism,  and  it  is  with  the  view  of 
trying  to  correct  some  of  the  errors  which  have  gained  currency 
among  medical  men  by  what  has  been  said  and  written,  that  I  have 
prepared  this  paper. 
Having  been  constantly  selling  and  dispensing  sugar-coated  pills  and 
granules  since  the  practice  has  to  any  extent  been  adopted,  I  claim 
that  I  am  somewhat  qualified  by  experience  and  close  observation  to 
judge  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  practice  as  it  affects 
their  therapeutic  qualities.  In  all  my  experience  in  selling  and  dispens- 
ing, I  might  say  many  hundred  pounds  of  sugar-coated  pills,  I  have 
never  heard  of  a  single  instance  of  complaint  of  their  inefficency  or 
even  tardiness  of  action,  either  from  physicians  or  customers,  which 
could,  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination,  be  attributed  to  their  sacchar- 
ine investment. 
The  objections  which  have  been  urged  against  the  practice  of  sugar- 
coating  pills  rest,  I  think,  upon  insufficient  grounds,  and  cannot  prevail 
with  any  force  when  the  subject  is  properly  considered  in  the  light  of 
practical  experience.  No  arbitrary  rule  for  general  application  can  be 
made  to  govern  the  matter  as  to  what  pills  should  or  should  not  be 
coated  in  extemporaneous  dispensing.  This  must  be  left  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  physician  or  pharmacist,  which  judgment  must  be  based 
upon  the  knowledge  of  the  chemical  nature,  etc.,  of  the  ingredients 
composing  the  pills,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  they  are  to  be 
employed.  But  I  do  contend  that  as  a  rule  almost  all  pills  which  are 
to  be  kept  more  than  a  day  or  two,  should  be  coated  with  something, 
sugar  preferred  when  practicable,  and  more  especially  such  as  contain 
iodide  of  iron,  or  any  of  the  ferrous  salts  of  iron,  asafoetida,  etc.,  or  any 
volatile  or  readily  oxidizable  substance.  Very  many  substances  are 
liable  to  change  and  to  deteriorate  by  even  a  brief  exposure  to  the 
variable  hygroscopic  conditions  and  other  atmospheric  influences,  from 
which  the  coating  shields  them,  and  at  the  same  time  preserves  the  pill 
mass  from  that  indefinite  exsiccation  and  hardening  which  exposure 
would  produce. 
I  think  that  all  of  the  officinal  pills,  as  well  as  the  numerous  popular 
pills,  which  the  pharmacist  is  obliged  to  keep  ready-made,  such  for 
