^■^  Stearic  Acid  Coating  for  Enteric  Pills. 
519 
coating.  This  was  not  satisfactory,  neither  for  speed  nor  for  quality. 
Next  we  tried  a  porcelain  dish_  containing  fused  Stearic  Acid  through 
which  the  pills  were  rolled  until  the  coating  was  thick  enough  and 
set  hard,  after  the  manner  of  Salol  coating.  This  was  not  satisfac- 
tory, the  pills  were  rough  and  a^poor  result  pharmaceutically. 
The  best  result  was  obtained  by  dissolving  considerable  of  the 
Stearic  Acid  in  Ether:  Place  the  pills  in  a  porcelain  dish  of  ample 
size,  pour  a  little  of  the  Stearic  Acid  solution  upon  the  side  of  the 
dish,  not  upon  the  pills,  roll  the  pills  through  the  liquid  until  they 
are  covered  and  nearly  dry,  then  transfer  the  pills  to  another  dish, 
clean  and  dry  and  continue  the  rolling  until  the  coat  is  quite  hard. 
The  second  dish  produces  a  better  finish  than  when  the  operation 
is  completed  in  the  original  dish.  Repeat  this  operation  until  the 
coating  is  sufficiently  thick. 
The  result  by  this  method  is  good.  The  coating  finishes  with  a 
smooth  satin-like  gloss,  it  is  entire,  and  resists  water  five  hours.  The 
coat  may  be  colored  if  desired,  for  example  by  heating  Ground 
Alkanet  Root  in  the  fused  Stearic  Acid,  etc.  This  result  encouraged 
us  to  proceed  to  proving  the  effectiveness  of  the  coating. 
This  matter  required  the  use  of  some  medicament  whose  action 
is  certain  and  unmistakable  when  taken  into  the  stomach,  but  whose 
action,  when  passed  into  the  intestine,  is  attended  with  different 
manifestations  so  that  the  two  sets  of  phenomena  may  be  readily 
differentiated.  The  drug  that  most  completely  met  the  specifications 
seemed  to  be  Ipecac.  Accordingly  we  made  up  a  number  of  pills 
containing  five  grains  each  of  powdered  Ipecac,  swallowed  one,  not 
coated,  and  awaited  the  result.  The  wait  was  brief,  the  effect  was 
unmistakable.  The  verdict,  good  Ipecac.  After  the  lapse  of  a  day 
or  two,  when  feeling  quite  normal,  swallowed  another  Ipecac  Pill, 
one  of  the  same  lot,  but  this  time  coated,  as  above  described.  Waited 
twenty-four  hours,  no  emesis.  Instead,  there  was  noticeable  intes- 
tinal activity  corresponding  to  the  physiological  action  as  described 
by  the  U.  S.  Dispensatory  in  the  article  on  Ipecac,  thus  proving  that 
the  coat  of  Stearic  Acid  has  protected  the  pill  from  any  action  in  the 
stomach. 
Next  prepared  the  following  liquid  laid  down  in  the  Pharma1 
copceia  among  the  tests  for  Pancreatin : 
Pancreatin   
Bicarbonate  soda 
Tepid  water   . . . 
0.28 
1-5 
gms. 
100.00 
