326  PHARMACEUTICAL  GLEANINGS  AND  NOTICES. 
of  pill  masses  would  render  them  more  certain  and  rapid  in  their 
action,  more  easily  administered  to  chillren  and  many  adults, 
and  the  doses  easily  proportioned  ;  if  once  introduced  into  use, 
they  would  become  an  imperative  necessity,  owing  to  popular 
favor. 
Doses  and  mode  of  administering  granules. — As  the  quantity 
of  excipient  is  only  a  sixteenth,  the  doses  of  the  officinal  powders 
may  be  considered  appropriate  for  granules.  They  may  be  dis- 
pensed in  separate  dose  packages  or  in  bulk.  The  denser  con- 
dition of  these  granules  occasion  them  to  occupy  less  space  than 
the  simple  powders.  A  teaspoonful  (unheaped)  of  charcoal 
granules  equals  50  grains  ;  of  compound  powder  of  rhubarb,  70 
grs.  Mr.  Banner's  method  will  not  answer  for  extemporaneous 
prescriptions,  involving  too  much  time. 
Granules  are  administered — 1st,  by  placing  the  dose  on  the 
tongue,  and  then  swallowing  them  with  a  mouthful  of  water;  or 
2d,  by  stirring  up  the  dose  in  a  wine-glassful  or  part  full  of  water, 
and  swallowing  the  whole.  The  latter  is  the  more  approved 
method. 
Dr.  Skinner  concludes  his  paper  with  a  special  recommenda- 
tion of  this  form  for  the  powders  of  charcoal  and  ergot.  Of  the 
former  he  says,  the  disgust  occasioned  by  the  color  and  behaviour 
of  charcoal  powder  is  entirely  avoided  in  granules,  a  teaspoonful 
of  which  may  be  taken  thrice  daily  without  annoyance. 
Granules  of  ergot  should  be  of  the  smaller  size,  as  more  solu- 
ble, and  when  made  from  fresh  active  powder,  retain  their  power 
much  better  than  the  powder ;  and  he  has  found  them  more 
certain  and  reliable  than  any  fluid  preparation  that  he  has  tried. 
Ratio  of  value  between  Imperial  and  Wine  measure. — The  fol- 
lowing fact  has  been  brought  to  our  notice  by  Mr.  Alfred  B. 
Taylor,  of  Philadelphia.  It  may  prove  useful  in  practice  in  aid- 
ing calculations : 
A  curious  relation  exists  between  the  pint  apothecaries'  or 
wine  measure,  and  the  pint  Imperial  measure  :  the  Imperial 
pint  being  almost  exactly  one-fifth  larger  than  the  wine  pint. 
A  wine  pint  =  28-875  cubic  inches,  or  7291-11  grs. 
Add  one  fifth  =  5-775    «       «     «  1458-22  « 
•     34-650  «       «      «  8749  33  « 
An  imperial  pint  =  34;659  cubic  inches,  or  8750  grs. 
