340 
Pill  Coating. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Phaxm. 
t     July  1,  1874. 
as  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  formula  does  gutta-percha.  The  above- 
preparation  readily  absorbs  water  and  develops  its  activity.  A  piece- 
applied  to  the  arm  gave  evidence  of  its  presence  in  less  than  two- 
minutes,  whilst  a  piece  of  the  B.  P.  preparation  required  seven 
minutes,  its  full  effect  being  comparatively  slight.  An  estimate  of 
the  cost  of  the  two  forms  shows  that  a  Charta  Sinapis  prepared  as- 
suggested  above  could  be  made  for  one-eighth  the  expense  of  the  B. 
P.  preparation. — Pliarm.  Journ.  and  Trans.  \Lond.\  May  9,  1874- 
PILL  COATING. 
By  J.  A.  Cope. 
The  introduction  of  pills  covered  with  a  tasteless  kind  of  enamely 
which  is  perfectly  soluble  and  harmless,  is  certainly  a  step  towards- 
elegant  pharmacy,  and  has  many  great  advantages  over  the  old 
method  of  dusting  pills,  to  prevent  their  sticking  together  and  to 
mask  the  taste.  The  manufacture  of  pearl- coated  pills  has  been 
carried  on  extensively  by  several  firms  during  the  last  few  years, 
and  there  appears  to  be  a  growing  demand  for  the  product.  The 
bulk  of  these  pills  reach  the  public  through  medical  men  who  send 
out  their  own  medicine,  and  who,  no  doubt,  are  glad  to  be  relieved  of 
the  troublesome  business  of  pill-making.  And  if  medical  men  edu- 
cate their  patients  to  prefer  their  pills  made  tasteless  and  as  attractive 
as  possible,  it  will  not  do  for  pharmacists  to  be  behind  the  times. 
They  must  be  able  to  compete  on  the  small  scale  with  those  firms 
who  make  it  their  business. 
Medical  men  are  not  to  be  questioned  as  to  the  remedies  they  pre- 
scribe, and  few  pharmacists  would  care  to  acknowledge  "they  did  not 
make  their  own  pills,  but  obtained  them  from  a  reliable  source,  and 
believed  them  to  be  of  the  purest  ingredients.''  And  it  is  desirable 
that  even  stock  pills  should  be  prepared  on  the  premises.  The  secret 
of  pill-coating  does  not  appear  to  be  in  what  the  coating  consists  ofy 
which,  in  most  cases,  is  powdered  French  chalk,  but  in  the  way  it  is 
put  on. 
The  following  simple  method  I  have  found  to  give  very  satisfactory 
results,  and  produce  pills  having  an  elegant  appearance  which  will 
bear  comparison  with  those  now  in  the  market. 
The  ingredients  are  powdered  French  chalk  and  thin  mucilage  of 
gum  arabic — one  part  mucilage  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  and  two  parts 
