THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
SEPTEMBER,  1879. 
PILL  COATING. 
By  Robert  H.  Dimock. 
Pills  without  coat  are,  when  freshly  made,  undoubtedly  most  active, 
but  if  kept  for  any  length  of  time,  grow  hard  and  more  or  less  insolu- 
ble. Mr.  H.  M.  Wilder's  recommendation  to  keep  them  in  mass  and 
make  them  as  required  (as  in  the  case  of  blue  mass,  and  directed  by 
the  British  Pharmacopoeia),  is  a  good  suggestion,  but  some  inconve- 
niences are  connected  with  it  which  interfere  with  its  general  adoption. 
Inclosing  or  coating  the  mass,  when  freshly  made,  in  the  form  in  which 
the  pills  are  to  be  taken,  and  thus  preventing  drying  and  hardening,  is 
an  improvement ;  and  when  we  not  only  preserve  the  pills  from  deterio- 
ration through  atmospheric  influences,  but  also  improve  the  appearance 
and  conceal  the  taste,  it  would  seem  as  though  we  had  reached  perfec- 
tion. Still,  there  remains  an  opportunity  for  experiment  to  fill  a  want 
felt  at  the  prescription  counter ;  we  need  a  coating  which  can  be 
applied  to  the  fresh  pill  as  soon  as  formed,  and  which  will  dry  suffi- 
ciently in  a  few  minutes  to  permit  the  pills  being  placed  in  a  box.  I  hope 
to  supply  that  need,  in  this  paper,  and  think  the  process  will  enable  any 
pharmacist  to  coat  all  the  pills  he  dispenses  with  a  permanent,  soluble 
coating. 
Sugar,  as  a  coating,  is  very  beautiful  in  appearance,  and  pills  so 
coated  are  fairly  active,  when  well  made  ;  but  the  use  of  sugar  coated 
pills  compels  the  druggist  to  depend  upon  the  wholesale  manufacturer, 
as  with  no  means  or  machines  can  he  coat,  on  a  small  scale,  pills  with 
sugar  to  compare  in  appearance  with  those  in  the  market.  The  neces- 
sity for  drying  the  pills,  to  prevent  the  discoloration  of  the  sugar  and 
allow  perfect  adherence  of  coating,  and  the  time  required  to  bake  on 
the  coating,  removes  sugar,  when  used  alone,  from  those  materials 
which  may  be  employed  at  the  prescription  counter  with  economy  of 
time. 
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