THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
MAY,  1871. 
ON  THE  PRKPARATION  OF  SUPPOSITORIES. 
By  William  G.  Ewing. 
(An  Inaugural  Essay.) 
1  have  read  most  of  the  articles  that  have  appeared  in  the  A7ner. 
Journ.  Pharmacy  for  several  years,  upon  the  subject  of  suppositories  ; 
and  have  gained  many  valuable  suggestions  from  Messrs.  J.  B.  Moore, 
Chas.  L.  Eberle  and  others  ;  but  I  have  fallen  upon  a  process 
not  alluded  to  by  any  of  them,  that  greatly  facilitates  this  tedious, 
and  sometimes  very  difficult,  and  troublesome  class  of  prescriptions. 
The  plan  I  have  adopted  is  as  follows  : 
First,  procure  a  large,  coarse  tin  grater — such  as  may  be  had  of 
any  tinner-and  with  it  grate  the  cacao  butter  into  a  coarse  powder, 
pass  through  sieve  No.  20,  and  put  it  into  a  wide  mouth  bottle  ready 
for  use  ;  next,  take  some  pure  white  wax,  grate,  sift,  bottle,  and  set 
it  aside  in  the  same  manner  as  above.  The  fragments  that  will  not 
pass  through  the  sieve  can  be  melted,  and  grated  again  after  cooling. 
AVith  these  two  substances  on  hand,  the  prescriptionist  is  prepared 
for  any  formula  in  the  suppository  line. 
The  management  of  the  melting  point  of  suppositories  has  been  a 
matter  of  great  difficulty,  annoyance  and  delay,  varying  as  it  does 
with  the  seasons  ;  but  with  this  (grated  material)  we  have  a  ready 
means  of  regulating  it  at  will ;  for  if  the  mass  should  be  too  hard — 
as  in  winter — the  addition  of  a  little  olive  oil  will  be  found  advantage- 
ous ;  or,  if  too  soft — as  in  summer — the  addition  of  the  grated  wax 
will  bring  it  to  the  right  consistence.  In  addition  to  the  above  ready 
means  of  controlling  the  melting  point,  it  has  the  advantage  of  being 
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