\  * ,    -  73 
A  VarU,r;8P75arm }  Sugar-coated  Pills.  ;  12$ 
those  containing  camphor,  myrrh,  phosphorus  or  any  of  the  vol 
oils,  or  in  fact,  any  volatile  or  readily  oxidizable  substance,  the  greatest 
care  should  be  exercised  to  avoid  exposure  to  too  high  a  temperature. 
The  desiccation  should,  I  think,  be  conducted  in  a  dry  atmos- 
phere, at  the  ordinary  temperature.  This  would  involve  a  longer 
exposure,  but  it  would  entail  less  risk  of  partial  decomposition  or  volati- 
lization of  the  active  ingredients.  And  in  all  pills  containing  such 
or  similar  substances,  would  it  not  be  well  to  first  give  them  a  coat  of 
tolu  before  that  of  si'gar  is  applied  ?  Would  not  such  a  plan  aid 
very  greatly  in  preserving  such  pills  from  change  or  loss  of  activity 
when  long  kept  ?  With  the  fear  of  that  awful  "  bug-bear  "  of  inso- 
lubility before  their  eyes,  sugar-coated  pill  manufacturers  often  commit 
the  error  of  coating  their  pills  before  they  are  properly  dried.  In 
consequence  of  this,  the  moisture  often  soaks  through  the  coating,  the 
pills  become  discolored,  often  taste  of  the  ingredients  and  are  unfit  for 
sale.  All  pills  should  of  course  be  dried  with  care,  preparatory  to 
coating,  but  unless  they  contain  any  volatile  or  oxidizable  substances, 
rapid  drying  to  the  proper  condition  for  coating  can  do  them  no  possible 
injury. 
The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  show  the  injustice  and  to  demonstrate 
the  utter  fallacy  of  the  tirade  against  sugar-coated  pills. 
In  order  to  convince  my  readers  of  the  sincerity  of  what  I  have 
said,  and  to  attest  my  faith  in  the  powers  of  the  bu?nan  alimentary 
canal  to  dissolve  any  properly  made  sugar-coated  pill,  I  make  the  fol- 
lowing offer  :  I  will  present  to  any  chemist,  physician  or  pharmacist  in 
the  United  States,  as  a  reward  of  merit,  the  sum  of  twenty-five  dollars^ 
who  will  manufacture  a  pill-coating  from  the  same  kind  of  materials, 
and  in  the  same  proportions,  and  by  the  same  process  usually  adopted 
by  our  best  manufacturers  of  sugar-coated  pills,  which  will  render  a 
sixth,  quarter  and  half  grain  morphia  pill,  or  the  officinal  compound 
cathartic  pill,  insoluble  and  inoperative,  and  fail  of  producing  their  char- 
acteristic therapeutic  effects  when  properly  administered,  under  any 
physiological  conditions  of  the  system  or  alimentary  canal  in  which 
these  same  kinds  of  pills  will  display  their  usual  medicinal  effects 
when  freshly  made  and  uncoated. 
I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  in  writing  this  paper  I  have  "  no 
friends  to  reward  nor  enemies  to  punish";  I  merely  write  in  the  inter- 
ests of  science,  my  profession  and  for  the  welfare  of  the  sick.  In  writing 
