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Pills  of  Sulphate  of  Quinia. 
(  Am.  Joub,  Phabm. 
t    Sept.  1,  1874. 
A  friend  in  Philadelphia  reminds  me  that  I  first  suggested  the 
making  of  licorice  lozenges  by  leaving  the  morphia  out  of  "  Wistar." 
I  had  forgotten  it,  but  am  perfectly  willing  to  take  the  credit  due  for 
keeping  opiates  out  of  the  public,  especially  as  "  credit"  is  all  the 
machines  have  ever  brought  me. 
Yellow  Springs,  Ohio. 
PILLS  OF  SULPHATE  OF  QUINIA. 
Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy : 
The  existing  formulae  for  making  quinia  pills  have  probably 
proved  unsatisfactory  to  many  of  your  readers.  The  process  of  the 
U.  S.  P.  yields  a  rather  bulky  and  unsightly  pill.  With  glycerin 
alone  as  an  excipient,  one  obtains  (if  fingers  and  tools  are  clean)  a  white, 
but  large  pill,  and  the  mass  is  apt  to  be  either  crumbly  or  flabby.  Made 
with  dilute  sulphuric  acid  the  product  is  small  and  solid,  but  the  mass 
hardens  so  quickly  when  it  begins  to  set  that  it  can  be  worked  only 
in  small  batches.  Recent  experiments  have  led  me  to  the  adoption 
of  the  following  method,  which,  after  an  experience  of  three  months, 
and  the  making  of  some  thousands  of  pills,  I  pronounce  unexcep- 
tionable : 
Take  of  Sulphate  of  Quinia  .  .  .  600  grs. 
Tartaric  acid,  ....      100  grs. 
Glycerin,  pure,  ...  75  minims 
Rub  the  quinia  and  acid  together  in  a  mortar  to  a  fine  powder,  till 
no  appearance  of  crystals  remains,  add  the  glycerin — just  75  minims, 
no  more  nor  less — and  continue  the  trituration  till  the  powder  becomes 
adherent,  when  it  should  be  beaten  into  proper  form  for  handling  and 
divided  into  the  required  number  of  pills.  The  mass  is  firm,  solid, 
rolls  well,  does  not  set  for  some  hours,  is,  in  fact,  a  "  beautiful  mass," 
and  the  pill  will  be  found  quite  small  for  their  weight,  very  white,  if 
rolled  m  starch  powder,  and  however  old  or  dry  they  may  become, 
they  remain  perfectly  and  entirely  soluble. 
Let  me  repeat  that  the  quantity  of  glycerin  is  just  right,  though  it 
seems  at  first  insufficient  for  such  a  bulk  of  quinia,  but  in  connection 
with  the  tartaric  acid  it  does  the  work,  though  requiring  patient  tri- 
turation. Even  a  very  few  drops  of  glycerin  more  than  the  propor- 
tion given  will  render  the  mass  inconveniently  sticky. 
H.  P.  Reynolds. 
Plainfield,  N.  J.,  August  6,  1874. 
