498 
Pill  Coating. 
Am.  Jour.  Fharm 
Oct.,  1880 
able  mechanism  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  will  be  a  benefactor  to 
the  suffering  sick,  and  to  his  fellow-craftsmen  as  well. 
From  the  openly-expressed  opinions  of  a  large  number  of  members 
of  the  medical  profession,  as  well  as  his  own  somewhat  extended  obser- 
vation and  experience,  your  correspondent  believes  that  the  prepared 
pills  of  the  day,  after  extended  opportunity,  have  failed  to  secure,  to 
any  considerable  extent,  the  confidence  of  physicians,  of  the  public  and 
of  pharmacists,  and  that  now  is  an  opportune  time  to  return  to  original 
principles  in  prescribing  and  compounding,  and  to  resist  further  inno- 
vations. 
The  sole  and  single  object  of  this  paper  is  to  suggest  to  pharmacists 
everywhere  the  importance  of  this  subject,  and  to  point  to  that  direc- 
tion in  which  ingenuity  and  thought  may  be  wisely,  as  well  as  profit- 
ably, exercised. 
A  careful  scrutiny  of  that  pharmaceutical  literature,  which  is  acces- 
sible to  us  all,  on  the  subject  of  a  material  for  the  coating  of  pills, 
seems  to  concentrate  upon  some  of  the  forms  of  gelatin  as  being  best 
adapted  to  the  purpose.  In  a  recent  number  of  the  '^Journal  of  Phar- 
macy" an  ingenious  formula  was  offered  by  a  contributor  for  the  coating 
of  pills.  This,  in  the  hands  of  the  writer  (after  gaining  some  experi- 
ence in  the  dexterity  of  manipulation),  appeared  to  very  nearly  answer 
the  desired  purpose.  The  desideratum  to  be  sought  is  a  coating,  at  all 
times  ready,  possessing  such  quick  solubility,  tenacity  and  rapidly- 
drying  property  as  shall  at  once  adapt  it  to  a  want  which  is  manifestly 
needed,  and  which  once  attained  will  quickly  revolutionize  at  least  one 
branch  of  the  dispensing  business. 
Philadelphia,  Sept.  25th,  1880. 
COATING  PILLS, 
From  two  communications  contained  in  the  Australian  supplement 
to  the  Chemist  aud  Druggist^  April,  1 880,  p.  97,  we  extract  the  follow- 
ing directions  : 
1.  I  may  say  that  I  have  tried  chalk,  gum,  starch,  isinglass,  sugar, 
French  chalk,  gelatin,  mucilage,  glue,  simple  syrup,  albumen  and 
arrowroot.  In  some  instances  I  have  used  the  above  separately,  and  in 
others  combined  them,  but  obtain  the  best  result  as  follows  :  Dissolve 
one  drachm  isinglass  in  one  and  a-half  ounce  simple  syrup  ;  pour  a 
small  quantity  whilst  warm  upon  some  pills  that  have  been  made,  say. 
