Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
February,  1920.} 
Business  Possibilities. 
lOI 
since  it  is  not  necessary  to  make  the  tablets  hard  enough  to  with- 
stand the  extra  strain  of  distant  transportation.  Another  factor 
in  regard  to  tablets  is  the  ability  of  the  small  manufacturer  to  supply 
limited  quantities  of  the  special  formulas  for  which  there  is  always 
a  demand  among  his  local  physicians.  The  cost  of  the  necessary 
utensils  need  not  be  very  great.  A  first-class,  hand-power  tablet 
compressing  machine,  with  a  reasonably  complete  assortment  of 
dies  and  punches,  can  be  secured  for  less  than  fifty  dollars.  A  set 
of  hard  rubber  molds  for  tablet  triturates  and  hypodermatic  tablets 
can  be  secured  for  from  five  to  ten  dollars,  depending  on  the  number 
of  molding  plates  desired  in  each  set.  In  any  case,  this  tablet 
equipment  should  be  part  of  every  complete  prescription  department. 
I  might  observe  that  the  man  w^ho  makes  a  line  of  tablets  is  getting 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  physical  properties  of  drugs  than  can  be 
had  in  any  other  way. 
Among  fluid  extracts,  there  is  one  which  no  self-respecting  drug- 
gist should  buy,  that  is,  Fluid  Extract  Cascara.  In  its  manufacture 
there  is  no  waste  of  alcohol  and  the  process  is  simple.  The  cost  of 
production  figures  about  as  follows: 
Per  Pint.  Per  Gallon. 
Ground  Cascara  Bark. .....  i  lb.           .30  8  lbs.        2 .40 
Alcohol   4  fl.  oz.       .20  I  qt.  150 
Time  and  fuel   .50  1.25 
Container   .10  .25 
$1.10  $5-40 
Actual  cost  will  in  most  cases  average  a  little  under  these  figures. 
Manufacturers  quote  from  $1.35  to  $1.80  per  pint.  The  manu- 
facturer quoting  the  lower  figure  per  pint,  names  $6.50  as  his  best 
price  per  gallon.  It  might  also  be  mentioned  that  Fluid  Extract 
Licorice  is  in  the  same  class  from  a  manufacturing  standpoint. 
The  retail  druggist  who  manufatcurers  at  least  some  portion 
of  his  own  preparations  has  one  advantage  which  is  rarely  ever  con- 
sidered, that  is,  the  ability  to  meet  emergencies.  During  the  recent 
influenza  epidemic,  both  manufacturers  and  wholesalers  in  many 
sections  of  the  country  were  from  two  to  three  weeks  behind  in  the 
filling  of  orders.  Common  preparations  like  Spirit  of  Nitre  were 
almost  unobtainable.  I  know  of  one  druggist  who  made  his  own 
Ethyl  Nitrite  when  he  found  that  the  market  was  bare  of  that 
substance.    It  would  not  have  paid  him  under  ordinary  circumstances 
