Am.  Jour.  Pharm.\ 
September,  1896.  J 
Gelatine  Capsules. 
489 
items  of  the  prescription  in  powder  form  into  the  capsule.  Under 
certain  circumstances  both  may  be  right.  Physicians  are  not  always 
explicit  in  writing  prescriptions,  and  often  omit  to  state  in  what  form 
they  wish  the  medicine  administered.  If  they  would  simply  add 
"  fiat  massa  in  capsulas  dividenda,"  or  "  fiant  pulveres  in  capsulas 
dividendi,"  all  doubts  would  be  dispelled.  But  there  are  only  a  few 
who  do  this,  and  as  long  as  the  modus  operandi  is  left  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  pharmacist,  a  definite  rule  should  be  adopted. 
The  public  in  general  prefer  capsules  filled  with  powder ',  and  all 
pharmacists  know  the  sometimes  very  troublesome  customer  who 
will  insist  on  having  his  20  grains  of  quinine  put  into  ten  capsules* 
because  "  they  act  better  that  way."  The  argument  that  a  dry 
powder  is  more  readily  dissolved  or  absorbed  than  a  more  or  less 
compressed  pill,  is  a  very  plausible  one  and  hard  to  refute.  In 
reviewing  prescriptions  on  which  capsules  are  ordered,  we  will  find 
that  the  majority,  almost  65  per  cent.,  are  orders  for  pills,  that  is  to 
say,  they  contain  ingredients  whose  mixture  will  result  in  a  pill 
mass.  Vegetable  extracts  of  more  or  less  soft  consistency,  oils  of 
various  natures,  articles  like  oxgall  or  ichthyol,  and  similar  drugs, 
all  these  can  only  be  prepared  in  pill  form ;  for  to  make  powders  of 
them  would  require  an  addition  of  so  much  absorbing  powder,  as  to 
make  the  powders  unreasonably  large.  To  this  class  we  must  also 
count  those  prescriptions  that  contain  delinquescent  salts  or  such 
chemicals  which  by  their  mixture  will  turn  moist  or  liquid.  There 
can  be  no  question  about  such  prescriptions  and  our  investigation  is, 
therefore,  restricted  to  prescriptions,  that  are  composed  only  of  dry 
ingredients,  or  in  which  the  amount  of  liquid  medicaments,  like  a 
few  drops  of  some  ethereal  oil,  is  so  small  that  it  will  be  readily 
taken  up  by  the  solid  ingredients  without  the  addition  of  any 
absorbing  powder.  What  is  ordered  in  such  cases,  powders  or 
pills  ? 
Let  us  take  analogous  cases.  Would  a  pharmacist  think  of  chang- 
ing a  prescription  for  pills  into  one  for  powders,  or  one  for  powders 
into  a  liquid  ?  Is  it  not  the  rule  to  dispense  conscientiously  what- 
ever is  ordered,  and  not  alter  a  prescription  in  the  least,  unless  the 
limits  of  safety  have  been  transgressed  ?  Why  then  should  a  mix- 
ture of  drugs  ordered  in  powder  form  be  changed  into  a  pill  mass  ? 
A  capsule  is,  according  to  all  authorities,  a  cover  for  nauseating  or 
strong-smelling  medicines;  no  teacher  or  encyclopaedist  restricts  its 
