AmAng.TJ^ m" }       The  Filling  of  Wafer  Capsules.  395 
Fluid  Extract  of  Jaborandi. 
Take  of  jaborandi  leaves,  in  moderately  fine  powder,       .        16  troyounces. 
Alcohol  (50  per  cent.),  .       .        .       .       .a  sufficient  quantity. 
Moisten  the  powder  thoroughly  with  the  menstruum,  pack  in  a 
conical  glass  percolator,  place  a  layer  of  two  inches  of  well-washed 
sand  on  top  of  the  cloth  covering  the  material,  add  menstruum  until 
the  liquid  begins  to  drop  from  the  percolator,  when  the  lower  orifice 
is  to  be  closed  with  a  cork,  and  the  percolator,  securely  covered., 
set  aside  in  a  moderately  warm  place  for  four  days.  At  the 
expiration  of  this  time  remove  the  cork,  and  add  more  menstruum  by 
degrees  until  the  material  is  exhausted.  The  first  fourteen  ounces  of 
the  percolate  are  to  be  reserved,  and  the  remainder  evaporated  on  a 
water  bath,  with  constant  stirring  towards  the  close,  to  two  fluidounces, 
which  are  to  be  added  to  the  reserved  portion.  If  the  percolation  and 
evaporation  have  been  properly  performed,  the  fluid  extract  will  not 
require  to  be  filtered. 
As  the  use  of  sand  in  the  manner  mentioned  above  appears  to  be 
called  for  theoretically  in  the  case  of  a  material  like  jaborandi,  for  the 
reason  that  in  furnishing  the  required  pressure,  it  secures  the  uniform 
distribution  of  the  menstruum  from  the  surface  of  the  material  through 
the  whole  extent  of  the  mass,  which  point  constitutes  the  essence  of 
the  process  of  displacement,  its  employment  might  be  very  advantage- 
ously extended  to  the  percolation  of  various  other  substances,  where 
difficulty  of  a  similar  nature  is  experienced. 
THE  FILLING  OF  WAFER  CAPSULES. 
By  J.  C.  Wharton. 
The  introduction  of  "  wafer  capsules  "  or  "  cachets  de  pain  "  may 
be  regarded  as  a  permanent  and  valuable  addition  to  the  art  of  pharmacy, 
and  must  meet  with  extended  favor  among  the  three  classes  of  persons 
intended  to  be  benefitted  by  them.  By  these  classes  are  meant  physi- 
cians, patients  and  pharmacists. 
When  first  brought  to  notice  in  this  section,  their  novelty  created 
an  unusual,  perhaps  an  undue  demand,  and  subsequently  a  very  natural 
wane  in  popularity  was  manifest ;  but  they  are  still  prescribed,  and  fill 
a  place  that  nothing  else  does  so  well. 
It  is  often  desirable  to  put  up  in  them  comparatively  large  amounts 
