586 
Remarks  on  Pills. 
Am.  Jour  Pha»rr» 
Dec,  1879 
tion  answering  to  all  the  tests  as  laid  down  in  the  Pharmacopoeia.  My 
apparatus  consisted  simply  of  a  funnel  and  filter  paper.  Having  dis- 
solved the  iron  in  the  muriatic  acid,  and  to  the  solution  added  the  addi- 
tional acid,  I  poured  the  liquid  on  a  filter  and  allowed  it  to  pass  into  the 
nitric  acid  placed  in  a  mortar.  The  preparation  was  completed  in  a 
few  minutes. 
I  was  induced  to  apply  Mr.  Shuttleworth's  process  in  the  preparation 
of  MonsePs  solution  and  met  with  the  happiest  result.  I  believe  the 
process  the  best  that  has  ever  yet  been  given,  and  with  the  author  of 
the  method  am  satisfied  that  the  same  principle,  of  reversing  the  order 
of  mixing  the  liquids,  may  be  applied  to  other  preparations. 
Ne-Tvcomerstown,  O.,  Nov.  13th,  1879. 
REMARKS  ON  PILLS. 
"Hold  fast  to  that  which  is  good." 
By  William  B.  Thompson. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  November  18. 
The  variety  of  pill-forms  is  increasing,  and  the  apothecary  is  grow- 
ing desperate  thereat. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  specify  the  various  shapes,  but  they  are  suffi- 
ciently numerous  already  to  be  a  source  of  vexation  to  the  dispenser. 
Let  us  briefly  consider  some  of  them. 
The  chief  claim  of  the  ct  lenticular  "  or  compressed — no  excipient — 
may  captivate  the  unreflective  portion  of  the  medical  profession,  but 
will  not  impress  with  favor  the  man  who  thinks. 
We  believe  it  can  be  shown,  upon  principle  as  well  as  by  actual 
demonstration,  that  a  well  chosen  excipient  is  positively  a  necessary 
adjunct  in  pill  masses — a  disintegrant  of  positive  value.  A  "ten-ton" 
pressure  upon  the  plunger  may  result  in  a  beautiful  symmetry  of  shape 
and  exactness  of  size,  but  it  results  as  well  in  that  most  serious  of  all 
objections  to  pills,  insolubility. 
It  is  urged  that  the  lenticular  shape  increases  the  facility  of  swallow- 
ing— let  us  see — let  us  use  a  simile.  Suppose  we  simultaneously  roll 
down  a  declivity,  a  hill,  the  throat,  for  instance,  a  cannon  ball  and  a 
grindstone  and  note  the  result — the  ball  (pill)  marking  a  straight  and 
speedy  course,  with  increasing  velocity,  quickly  reaches  the  base,  whilst 
the  grindstone  (lenticular),  after  a  few  furtive  bounces,  describes  an 
