226 
SUPPOSITORIES. 
The  suppositories,  after  having  become  sufficiently  cold  and 
firm,  may  be  easily  removed  from  the  moulds  by  the  gentlest  tap 
of  the  edge  of  the  latter  upon  the  counter ;  in  fact,  the  greater 
number  will  drop  out  by  simply  inverting  the  mould.  Should 
any  of  the  coating  adhere  to  the  suppository  after  its  delivery, 
and  should  be  objectionable,  it  may  be  removed  with  a  soft  brush 
or  raw  cotton. 
By  this  simple  expedient  of  coating  the  moulds  with  an  inert 
powder,  they  are  made  to  deliver  with  the  greatest  facility,  which 
overcomes  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  effectually  removes  the 
most  troublesome  and  annoying  feature  which  most  apothecaries 
have  heretofore  had  to  encounter  in  the  manufacture  of  supposi- 
tories. When  I  first  began  to  have  a  demand  for  them,  about 
seven  years  ago,  it  was  seldom  that  I  had  occasion  to  make  them, 
but  at  every  attempt  I  was  invariably  vexed  by  their  persistent 
adherence  to  the  moulds.  So  great  and  annoying  was  this  im- 
pediment to  the  process,  that  I  became  completely  disgusted  with 
it,  and  there  was  nothing  that  I  so  much  dreaded  as  to  receive  a 
prescription  for  them,  particularly  when  at  a  busy  hour  of 
the  day,  and  the  customer,  perhaps,  impatient.  But  as  the  de- 
mand increased,  and  the  occasion  to  prepare  them  became  of 
more  frequent  occurrence,  I  felt  compelled  to  devise  some  means 
to  remove  the  difficulty,  and  after  resorting  to  various  methods 
without  avail,  I  tried  the  above  plan,  which  I  have  ever  since 
adopted  with  uniform  and  gratifying  success.  I  have  communi- 
cated the  idea  to  many  of  my  friends  in  the  profession,  whose 
experience  coincides  with  my  own. 
The  method  also  proposed  above,  of  directly  incorporating  the 
medicinal  ingredients  with  the  excipient  in  a  mortar,  instead  of 
with  the  latter  in  liquid  state,  which  is  the  plan  usually  adopted, 
will  be  found  upon  trial  to  possess  many  advantages.  By  this 
latter  method  good  suppositories  cannot  be  made  with  some  sub- 
stances without  unnecessary  trouble.  Liquor  ferri  subsulphatis, 
for  instance,  when  added  to  melted  cacao  butter,  is  not  readily 
miscible,  whereas,  when  incorporated  with  it  mechanically,  it 
afterwards  makes,  when  liquified,  a  perfectly  homogeneous  mix- 
ture, and  shows  less  tendency  to  separate.  Many  instances  of 
this  character  might  be  mentioned. 
