"^VayT       }         Preparation  of  Suppositories.  195 
in  until  the  proper  consistence  was  attained,  the  amount  of  wax 
required  being  70  grains  ;  the  prescription  was  much  more  quickly 
dispensed  than  by  any  of  the  usual  methods,  and  as  there  was  no 
heat  employed  in  the  process  there  could  have  been  no  evaporation  of 
the  carbolic  acid.  In  the  above  case,  the  grated  wax  and  carbolic 
acid  were  first  well  rubbed  together,  and  the  cacao  butter  added 
last. 
As  no  allowance  was  made  for  the  addition  of  wax,  the  size  of  each 
suppository  was  slightl)^  increased,  (though  not  materially)  and,  as 
each  contained  the  exact  proportion  of  its  active  ingredient,  the  de- 
sign of  the  prescription  was  execute<l.  The  weight  of  each  supposi- 
tory might  have  been  left  unchanged  by  omitting  enough  cacao  butter 
to  balance  the  wax  that  was  added. 
It  is  needless  to  repeat  examples,  though  many  difficult  ones  might 
be  given  from  actual  experience ;  it  is  sufficient  to  state  a  few  general 
principles.  / 
When  dry  substances  are  prescribed,  they  should  be  reduced  to 
fine  powders  (if  not  already  so)  then  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the 
grated  cacao  butter,  and  rubbed  in  a  mortar  until  the  mixture  be- 
comes a  plastic  mass  easily  rolled  into  lengths,  divided  and  formed 
into  suppositories.  Should  moist  substances,  such  as  extracts  or  any 
articles  not  dry,  be  prescribed,  they  may  be  rubbed  first  with  about 
an  equal  bulk  of  the  grated  cacao  butter,  and  afterwards  readily  com- 
bined with  the  remaining  ingredients. 
As  a  general  rule,  all  substances  used  in  medicating  suppositories 
must  be  either  in  the  state  of  a  fine  powder,  or  a  uniform  paste  ;  the 
prescriptionist  must  decide  upon  the  more  easily  attainable  state. 
The  advantages  of  using  the  cacao  butter  in  the  grated  state  are 
numerous.  It  furnishes  the  means  of  easy  manipulation,  of  readily 
adjusting  the  melting  point,  of  avoiding  the  delay  of  melting  and 
cooling,  and  the  use  of  ice  which  is  not  always  procurable,  of  thorough 
and  perfect  incorporation  of  its  ingredients,  of  exactness  with  which 
the  mass  may  be  divided  ;  besides  the  satisfaction  it  gives  the  pre- 
scriptionist of  knoiving  that  no  separation  nor  subsidence  of  any  of 
its  '  ingredients  can  possibly  take  place,  which  certainly  cannot  be 
felt  when  the  substance  is  melted  and  moulded. 
