268 
Sugar  of  Milk. 
f  Am.  Jour  Pharm. 
\       Jnne,  1876. 
sugar  of  milk  with  powdered  squill,  in  order  to  prevent  caking.  This 
ted  me  to  believe  that  this  substance  could  be  used  to  attain  the 
same  effect  in  a  large  number  of  the  gum  resins  that  are  often  required 
in  the  state  of  powder,  and  which  cannot  be  reduced  unless  previously 
heated,  which  process  is  very  liable  to  endanger  or  completely  subvert 
the  therapeutical  value  ;  or,  if  powdered  by  any  other  means,  it  fails 
to  reach  the  wants  of  the  pharmacist,  by  reason  that  the  state  of 
powder  is  merely  temporary.  Belonging  to  this  class  of  substances 
are  ammoniac,  assafoetida,  galbanum,  guaiac,  myrrh  and  a  large  number 
of  others. 
Now,  to  preserve  these  substances  in  the  state  of  fine  powder,  and 
in  a  condition  that  they  may  be  dispensed  on  the  prescriptions  of  physi- 
cians in  a  thoroughly  pharmaceutical  manner,  I  would  recommend  that 
sugar  of  milk  be  added  and  triturated  in  the  proportion  of  either 
three  parts  of  the  gum  resin  to  one  of  sugar  of  milk,  or  of  two  of  the 
former  to  one  of  the  latter, — the  powder  to  be  preserved  in  well- 
stoppered  bottles. 
For  guaiac  resin  and  squill,  I  use  90  parts  to  10  of  sugar  of  milk.  It 
may  be  well  to  state,  that  the  cooler  the  weather  the  less  time  is  re- 
quired for  trituration.  To  preserve  camphor  in  a  form  of  powder,  I 
find  sugar  of  milk  answers  better  than  any  other  substance  that  has 
been  recommended.  Below  is  given  the  quantity  of  sugar  of  milk 
required  : 
Take  of  camphor,       ....       90  grains. 
alcohol,     .       .       .       .       -30  drops, 
sugar  of  milk,        .       .       .        10  grains. 
Rub  the  camphor  first  with  the  alcohol,  until  reduced  to  a  fine  powder,  then  with 
the  sugar  of  milk. 
The  sample  on  the  table  was  powdered  in  this  manner,  about  two 
months  ago. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Prof.  John  M.  Maisch,  I  was  induced  to  try 
sugar  of  milk  in  preparing  mercurial  pill  and  mercury  with  chalk,  which 
two  preparations  are  very  seldom  manufactured  by  the  apothecary,  for 
the  reason,  of  the  great  difficulty  encountered  in  extinguishing  the 
mercury.  In  preparing  blue  pill,  I  find,  to  my  entire  satisfaction,  by 
substituting  sugar  of  milk  for  powdered  liquorice  root,  and  with  a 
slight  modification  of  the  officinal  process,  this  difficulty  can  be  readily 
overcome.    I  recommend  the  following  process  for 
