56      ON  GLYCELiEUM  :  A  PROPOSED  BASIS  FOE  OINTMENTS. 
In  all  cases  it  is  most  convenient  to  operate  with  forms  which 
are  more  or  less  conical,  and  with  the  apex  rounded ;  a  thimble 
illustrates  the  shape  best  suited  for  pessaries,  and  as  it  also  af- 
fords a  sufficient  latitude  of  sizes,  and  is  always  easily  procured, 
we  cannot  do  better  than  extemporize  a  pessary-dibble  with  seal- 
ing-wax or  gutta-percha  and  a  thimble,  in  the  same  manner  as 
was. done  for  suppositories  with  a  minim  measure. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  materials  are  all  such  as  are  to  be 
found  in  any  shop  or  surgery,  for  a  lump  of  carbonate  of  magne- 
sia or  of  chalk  may  be  used  instead  of  clay.  And  all  the  opera- 
tions are  such  that  any  one  could  undertake  to  perform  with 
success  at  a  first  attempt.  There  is  no  highly-finished  apparatus 
to  be  made,  nor  any  delicacy  of  manipulation  to  be  acquired,  and 
on  these  grounds  I  offer  these  remarks  to  the  notice  of  my  brother 
pharmaceutists,  who  may  now  and  then  be  annoyed  at  the  in- 
tractability of  the  old  method,  while  some  impatient  customer 
urges  him  to  lose  no  time. 
Grey  Street,  Newcastle,  Oct.  16,  1867. 
— London  Pharm.  Jour.,  Nov.,  1867. 
ON  GLYCELiEUM:  A  PROPOSED  BASIS  FOR  OINTMENTS. 
By  T.  B.  Groves,  F.  0.  S. 
Some  years  ago,  when  stirring  together  on  my  plate  a  mixture 
of  mustard,  sugar,  vinegar  and  olive  oil,  I  observed  a  tendency 
towards  combination,  and  on  persevering  with  the  process  I 
eventually  obtained  a  semi-transparent  paste  of  soft  consistence, 
which,  when  mixed  with  a  further  proportion  of  vinegar,  gave  an 
elegant  emulsion.    I  subsequently  found  that  by  modifying  my 
method  I  could  obtain  this  result  very  readily.    Since  then  I 
have,  as  occasion  required,  prepared  a  very  useful  salad  paste, 
which,  being  composed  of  the  simple  materials  common  to  all 
salad  dressings,  formed  a  kind  of  universal  basis,  and  being 
destitute  of  vinegar,  kept  well  for  a  length  of  time. 
It  was  made  thus  : — 
Take  of  Mustard,       .       .  3iij 
Syrup,  .       .  3j. 
Olive  Oil,      .       .  giij. 
