Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
November,  1913.  j 
Prescription  Kinks  and  Hints. 
503 
SOME  "  PRESCRIPTION  KINKS  AND  HINTS."  1 
By  George  M.  Beringer,  Jr. 
The  pharmacist  might,  with  profit,  stimulate  the  physicians  of 
his  neighborhood  to  prescribe  various  coatings  for  extemporane- 
ously prepared  pills.  A  coating  that  is  easily  applied,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  is  distinctive  and  unusual,  is  plumbago.  The  pills  are 
simply  rolled  in  finely  powdered  graphite.  They  may,  afterward, 
be  highly  polished  by  rolling  on  a  piece  of  cotton  flannel  or  of  felt. 
Physicians  are  coming  more  and  more  to  order  ointments  dis- 
pensed in  collapsible  tubes.  The  usual  methods  of  filling  the  tubes 
are  by,  means  of  a  spatula  or  by  melting  and  pouring  the  ointment 
into  the  tube  before  the  ointment  has  quite  solidified.-  The  first  of 
these  is  rather  troublesome  and  "  messy."  The  second  cannot 
be  used  in  very  many  cases  without  having  an  uneven  admixture 
of  the  ingredients  and  an  ointment  far  from  smooth.  The  follow- 
ing has  been  found  a  convenient,  clean  and  rapid  method :  The 
prepared  ointment  is  placed  in  a  thin  streak  along  the  center  of  a 
piece  of  suitable  paper  (preferably  parchmentized)  about  1% 
times  the  length  of  the  tube  to  be  filled  and  about  3  or  4  times 
the  diameter  of  the  tube,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  paper  and  oint- 
ment may  be  rolled  into  a  pipe  of  slightly  smaller  diameter  than 
the  tube.  This  pipe  is  inserted  into  the  tube  and  the  outer  end 
of  the  paper  folded  over.  The  folding-over  is  continued  and  the 
paper  withdrawn  as  the  ointment  is  expressed  into  the  tube.  In 
this  way  the  tube  is  filled  as  solidly  as  by  a  machine  and  with 
little  or  no  loss  or  smearing. 
It  has  been  found  difficult  to  powder  chloretone  finely  enough 
to  make  a  smooth  ointment.  It  becomes  so  electrified  upon  tritura- 
tion that  it  sticks  to  mortars,  pestles  and  spatulas  and,  when  scraped 
off,  flies  in  every  direction  excepting  the  one  intended.  As  it  was 
prescribed  in  an  ointment,  for  rectal  injection,  it  was  not  thought 
advisable  to  use  alcohol  or  similar  solvents  to  facilitate  its  incor- 
poration. The  substance  can,  however,  be  made  into  a  very  smooth 
paste  by  rubbing  upon  a  tile  with  a  few  drops  of  expressed  oil  of 
almond,  before  incorporating  with  the  other  ingredients. 
1  Read  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical  As- 
sociation, June,  1913. 
