ioi  Modern  Methods  in  Pharmacy.       {Km^;™6.m ' 
moistened.  He  mentions  the  time  necessary  for  their  preparation  as 
being  five  times  greater  than  that  required  for  preparing  pills  and  pow- 
ders. Such  has  not  been  our  experience,  hence,  we  conclude  from  his 
remarks,  that  he  is  not  skilled  in  the  art  of  preparing  cachets,  and  for 
fear  that  fallacious  impressions  may  be  made  on  the  minds  of  those 
who  have  not  examined  the  subject  for  themselves,  we  deem  it  expedi- 
ent to  controvert  his  statements. 
The  word  theory  is  again  used  in  his  endeavor  to  condemn  cachets 
de  pain.  In  concluding  the  dissertation,  in  order  to  strengthen  his 
objections,  he  observes  :  "  This  is  not  only  my  personal  experience, 
but  that  of  several  physicians  of  this  city,  who,  having  submitted  this 
method  to  fair  trial,  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  cachets  de  pain 
are  a  failure." 
We  were  the  first  to  prepare  cachets  de  pain  in  Baltimore,  and  at  a 
period  previous  to  their  introduction  in  any  of  the  Eastern  cities  ;  the 
press  and  wafers  of  Limousin  only  being  used.  They  have  been  regu- 
larly dispensed  since  their  introduction,  and  are  highly  esteemed  by 
physicians.  After  a  little  trouble  at  first,  no  inconvenience  has  been 
experienced  with  them, — the  time  consumed  in  their  preparation  being 
very  little  more  than  that  required  for  pills  and  powders  ;  and  accidents, 
such  as  recorded  by  the  writer,  we  have  never  encountered. 
We  concluded  to  repeat  the  experiment  of  the  writer  with  cachets 
containing  effervescing  salts.  One  cachet  was  prepared  with  a  mixture 
of  tartaric  acid  and  bicarbonate  of  sodium,  another  with  citric  acid  and 
carbonate  of  potassium.  As  usual,  after  joining  the  edges  of  the  discs, 
they  were  quite  dry  in  a  few  seconds.  On  being  placed  separately  in 
water,  they  became  perfectly  flacid,  but  several  cachets  could  have 
been  swallowed  before  any  sign  of  rupture  or  effervescence  was  noticed. 
The  recommendation  of  Planten's  jujube  paste  capsules,  as  a  prefera- 
ble means  of  administering  medicines  in  a  tasteless  form  (particularly 
if  in  powder),  convinces  us  of  the  writer's  lack  of  familiarity  with  this 
method.  The  capsules  will  not  compare  with  the  wafer  discs  in  point 
of  economy  or  convenience,  nor  can  they  be  as  expeditiously  prepared. 
However,  they  answered  an  excellent  purpose,  until  Limousin  placed 
his  unique  press  and  concave  wafer  discs  within  the  reach  of  pharma- 
cists, and  even  now,  may  be  preferred  in  a  few  cases.  Therefore,  we 
cannot  conclude  with  the  writer,  that  cachets  de  pain,  of  the  kind  we 
dispense,  "will  soon  be  referred  to  as  a  thing  of  the  past,"  but,  on  the 
contrary,  like  many  other  innovations,  strongly  opposed  at  first,  will  in 
