2T0 
MEDICINAL    DRAGEES  AND  GRANULES. 
dried  before  use.  Fresh  soap  usually  contains  from  30  to  40 
per  cent,  of  water,  and  I  think  it  best  to  employ  it  in  this  moist 
condition. 
Soap  may  be  quite  as  readily  made  from  olive  oil  by  the  fore- 
going method,  but  I  think  the  use  of  almond  oil  will  be  found  to 
present  several  important  advantages.  Although  the  latter  is 
the  dearer  material,  it  does  not  sensibly  affect  the  cost  of  the 
liniment,  because  the  soap  is  to  a  greater  extent  soluble ;  conse- 
quently, the  quantity  of  product  is  increased,  and  the  proportion 
of  spirit  retained  in  the  undissolved  matter  is  saved. — Pharm, 
Jour.^  London^  January^  1870. 
Note. — The  high  price  of  oil  of  almonds  in  this  country  will  preclude 
the  use  of  that  oil  in  the  preparation  of  an  extemporaneous  soap.  The 
use  of  the  sulphuric  acid  is  to  destroy  or  separate  the  glycerin  as  sulpho- 
glyceric  acid  when  the  saponification  of  the  oily  acids  is  more  easily  ef- 
fected. It  is  suggested,  as  a  more  appropriate  method  when  it  is  desired 
to  get  a  soap  liniment  consisting  mainly  of  oleate  of  soda  soap,  that  the 
ordinary  white  Castile  soap  be  dissolved  in  the  alcohol  in  such  excess  that 
the  less  soluble  margarate  of  soda  may  crystallize  out  by  careful  cooling, 
separated  on  a  cloth  and  expressed,  and  thus  prevent  the  annoyance 
arising  from  change  of  temperature  in  winter. — Editor  Amer.  Journal 
Pharmacy. 
MEDICINAL  DRAGEES  AND  GRANULES. 
By  Ernest  Agnew. 
The  large  extension  given  to  this  agreeable  form  of  pill,  and 
its  adaptability  to  a  hos-t  of  substances  usually  administered  in 
that  manner,  necessitate  a  few  remarks  on  their  manufacture, 
more  especially  as  in  England  they  seem  to  be  less  employed  or 
less  appreciated  than  in  America  or  on  the  Continent,  where  it 
is  usual  to  keep  genuine  dragees  of  various  strengths,  ranging 
from  one  grain  to  five  of  rhubarb,  aloes,  and  various  other  sim- 
ple and  compound  pills,  sugar-coated  ;  an  advantage  apparently 
much  appreciated  by  customers,  who  rarely  fail  to  renew  a  re- 
quest for  the  same.  The  method  adopted  in  their  manufacture 
is  one  of  admirable  simplicity,  but  succeeds  best  on  a  large  scale, 
unfortunately  preventing  its  use  for  the  general  work  of  a  dis- 
pensing counter.    But  the  numerous  special  pills  constituting 
