Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Mar.,  1877.  J 
Sugar-coated  Pills. 
the  alimentary  canal  by  the  increased  peristaltic  action  produced  by  the 
smallest  portion  of  the  medical  ingredient  coming  in  contact  with  the 
mucous  membrane  of  the  bowels,  how  much  more  likely  would  the 
anodyne,  alterative  and  other  class  of  pills  be  to  dissolve,  which  are 
liable  to  linger  longer  in  their  passage. 
As  a  proof  of  the  fallacy  of  the  idea  that  sugar-coating  diminishes 
or  destroys  the  activity  of  pills,  watch  the  steady  and  unwavering 
popularity  of  many  of  the  proprietary  pills,  which  are  now,  I  believe, 
nearly  all  sugar-coated,  such,  for  instance,  as  Wright's,  Jayne's,  Ayer's, 
Schenck's,  Brandreth's,  etc.  Do  you  suppose  for  a  moment,  that  if  the 
coating  of  these  pills  interfered  in  the  least  with  their  activity,  the 
proprietors  would  not  soon  discover  the  fact  and  at  once  abandon  the 
practice.  These  men  are  shrewd  and  keep  a  steady  eye  upon  their  own 
interests,  and  offer  to  the  great  public  their  remedies  in  the  most 
palatable  and  inviting  forms.  And  if  regular  medical  practitioners 
should  insist  upon  dosing  the  public  with  uncoated,  bitter  pills,  what 
would  be  the  result  ?  People  who  have  hitherto  been  in  the  habit  of 
using  the  various  officinal  and  semi-officinal  pills  would  buy  and  use  in 
their  stead  some  of  the  popular  proprietary  pills.  This  would  be  the 
natural  sequence  of  the  present  crusade  against  sugar-coated  pills,  if 
successful. 
Instead  of  abandoning  the  practice  of  sugar-coating  pills  I  would 
rather  encourage  its  more  extensive  adoption,  and  would  recommend,, 
if  it  could  be  conveniently  done,  the  coating  of  all  pills  with  some- 
thing to  conceal  their  taste  and  to  protect  them  from  atmospheric 
influence.  If  some  facile  and  expeditious  means  could  be  devised  by 
which  the  process  of  sugar-coating  could  be  executed  quickly,  Pwould 
like  to  see  it  applied  even  to  pills  on  the  extemporaneous  prescriptions 
of  physicians,  and  thus  shield  the  sensitive  and  delicate  palate  of  the 
sick  from  the  disagreeable  taste  and,  sometimes,  repulsive  odor  of 
nauseous  medicines,  I  might,  however,  offer  as  exceptions  to  this  rule 
all  pills  that  are  to  be  administered  in  diarrhoeas,  dvsentery,  cholera 
morbus,  cholic,  etc.,  where  immediate  or  the  promptest  action  is 
required,  and  where  a  highly  exalted  state  of  peristaltic  action  exists,. 
In  such  cases  it  is  probable  that  a  freshly-made  uncoated  pill  might  be 
preferable. 
To  many  persons  a  pill  is  the  most  acceptable  form  in  which 
medicine  can  be  administered,  while  to  others  pill-taking  is  a  very 
