AmS€JP°tTi9ih£rm'  J  Thc  Manufacture  of  Aspirin  Tablets.  643 
Other  Filler — Corn  starch. 
Lupbricants — Oil,  entirely  too  much.    Talcum,  very  heavy. 
Contamination — With  metal  apparent. 
Packing — Good. 
Tablets  on  account  of  excessive  pressure  would  not  disintegrate  speedily 
enough,  yet  their  fracture  was  soft. 
Date — June,  1918. 
Sample— No.  7. 
Purchased  in  a  Washington,  D.  C,  drug  store.  Name  of  manufacturer 
could  not  be  obtained,  had  evidently  been  heated  too  long  in  drying,  with 
apparent  contamination.  The  edges  were  poor  and  the  tablets  quite  mottled, 
as  if  too  dark  a  shade  of  talcum  had  been  used. 
This  sample  was  so  far  out-classed  by  those  of  other  manufacturers  that 
it  is  of  no  interest  whatever  except  that  it  tends  to  show  that  very  poor  work- 
manship in  pharmaceutical  products  still  is  practiced. 
The  manufacture  of  aspirin  tablets  may  be  placed  in  what  is  con- 
sidered by  manufacturers  the  delicate  group.  Many  things  coming 
in  contact  with  aspirin  can  exercise  either  physical,  or  chemical  func- 
tion, and  so  either  contaminate  or  break  down  the  aspirin  content. 
In  the  manufacture  of  any  tablet  there  are  several  important  fea- 
tures to  which  the  manufacturer  gives  considerable  attention.  The 
first  desirable  thing  is  to  present  in  tablet  form  the  chemical  as  nearly 
in  its  original  condition  as  is  possible.  The  second  important  thing 
is  disintegration,  though  in  the  case  of  aspirin  this  is  not  vital  as  it 
takes,  according  to  various  authorities,  about  forty  minutes  for 
aspirin  to  become  decomposed  in  the  gastric  fluids  (U.  S.  Dispen- 
satory, 20th  edition).  The  next  feature  is  to  have  present  as  little 
foreign  ingredients  as  is  possible.  As  we  know  there  are  many  ma- 
terials such  as  formin,  potassium  iodide,  sodium  chloride,  sodium 
bicarbonate,"  permanganate  of  potash,  sugar,  etc.,  which  if  obtained 
in  granular  form  of  the  proper  size  may  be  compressed  without  the 
use  of  any  excipient,  or  binder,  without  the  presence  of  any  filler, 
and  without  the  addition  of  any  disintegrating  agent  whatever.  The 
physical  properties  of  aspirin  are  such  that  it  is  placed  in  a  class  of 
tablets  known  to  some  manufacturers,  as  moist  tablets.  This  class 
includes  such  tablets  as  quinine,  acetanilide,  etc.,  or  tablets  which 
can  never  be  produced  with  a  glass-like  surface.  The  term  moist  in 
this  case  originated  with  the  appearance  of  the  tablet,  which  no 
amount  of  blowing,  or  dusting,  will  make  entirely  smooth.  Such 
tablets  if  great  pressure  is  applied  are  inclined  to  cap ;  or  on  account 
