Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Mar.  1876.  / 
Glycerin  Dropper. 
99 
;lycerin  dropper. 
BY  C.  A.  BOWMAN. 
The  arrangement  for  this  purpose,  noticed 
on  page  89  of  the  February  number  of  the 
"American  Journal  of  Pharmacy "  as  an 
invention  of  my  own,  is  only  claimed  as  a 
slight  improvement  on  the  original  idea  of  C. 
W.  Wharton,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Wharton  &  Co.,  of 
that  place. 
The  little  apparatus  consists  of  a  small 
morphia  or  other  wide-mouth  bottle,  having 
an  aperture  bored  through  the  curved  portion 
of  the  neck,  at  an  acute  angle  with  the  out- 
side edge,  by  means  of  a  small,  rat-tail  file, 
after  a  notch  has  been  made  in  the  shoulder, 
by  means  of  a  sharp-edged  file,  sufficiently 
large  for  the  round  file  to  take  hold,  the  ope- 
ration being  facilitated  by  the  use  of  turpen- 
tine from  time  to  time.  Care  should  be  taken  to  have  the  bent  glass 
tube  extend  into  the  bottle,  as  shown  in  the  figure,  and  fit  tightly,  as 
otherwise  the  contrivance  will  work  imperfectly  on  account  of  escape 
of  air  from  the  bottle.  This  precaution  taken,  the  bottle  is  filled  with 
the  fluid  excipient,  and  a  small  finger  stall  drawn  tightly  over  the 
mouth,  which  completes  this  simple  but  useful  arrangement,  making  a 
convenient  and  proper  medium  for  the  adjustment  of  liquid  excipients 
in  making  pill  masses,  and  where  it  is  necessary  to  get  them  of  a 
proper  consistency  in  order  to  turn  out  a  good  lot  of  pills.  It  is  free 
from  the  inconvenience  of  the  old  mode  of  adjustment,  and  has  besides 
the  advantage  of  neatness,  its  size  making  it  little  in  the  way  on  the 
prescription  counter.  By  very  light  pressure  on  the  top  of  the  rubber 
shield,  the  liquid  is  forced  out  through  the  glass  tube  in  single  drops, 
as  shown  in  the  figure,  and  a  continuous  stream  can  be  obtained  by 
continued  and  harder  pressure.  The  flow  ceases  instantly  on  removing 
the  finger,  and  air  enters  through  the  tube  equal  to  the  bulk  of  liquid 
removed. 
