360  Compressed  Tablets  and  Tablet  Triturates .  { A%Ju°iy%?92arm' 
Ceylon  cinnamon,  being  rarely  called  for  other  than  for  medicinal 
purposes,  is  not  considered. 
The  above  are  the  principal  spices,  commonly  used  in  families  and 
what  the  writer  supposes  No.  6  of  the  Queries  calls  for. 
Samples  of  cloves,  cassia,  mace,  nutmegs,  peppers,  etc.,  are  sub- 
mitted for  inspection. 
COMPRESSED  TABLETS  AND  TABLET  TRITURATES. 
By  John  H.  Hahn,  Ph.G. 
Read  before  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association,  June  1 6. 
Compressed  tablets  and  tablet  triturates  have  become  very  popu- 
lar of  late  years,  for  the  purpose  of  administering  drugs  formerly 
prescribed  in  pilular  form,  and  for  preparing  accurate  solutions  for 
medication;  they  have  almost  entirely  superseded  the  old  form  of 
medicated  lozenges.  The  increased  popularity  of  this  class  of 
preparations  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  in  1888  one  per 
cent.,  and  in  1891  two  per  cent,  of  the  original  prescriptions  com- 
pounded in  a  certain  store  in  Philadelphia  were  for  compressed 
tablets. 
The  question  has  been  often  asked  :  Does  it  pay  the  retail  druggist 
to  manufacture  compressed  goods  ?  This  is  a  very  difficult  question 
to  decide  satisfactorily  to  all ;  for  there  are  many  who  believe  the  work 
so  laborious  and  difficult,  and  their  time  so  valuable  that  they 
cannot  afford  to  make  them  in  such  quantities  as  they  may  require 
to  supply  their  demands. 
While  the  above  statements  may  be  partly  true,  they  are  not  by 
any  means  conclusive;  for  the  practical  experience  which  the  writer 
has  had  in  this  particular  branch  of  the  profession,  has  led  him  to 
believe  that  it  does  pay,  both  directly  and  indirectly  ;  and  it  is  also 
his  belief  that  a  tablet  compressor  will  be  as  necessary  in  the  near 
future,  as  a  pill  machine  or  tile  has  been  in  the  past,  in  order  to  keep 
abreast  with  the  advancement  of  your  chosen  calling. 
A  practical  illustration  of  how  it  pays  was  brought  to  the  writer's 
notice  some  time  ago,  by  a  druggist  in  Philadelphia,  who  had 
received  a  prescription  about  the  first  week  in  January  of  the 
present  year,  for.  twenty  compressed  tablets  of  cocaine  hydrochloride 
of  1  grain  each.  The  doctor  not  having  specified  any  particular 
make,  it  was  optional  with  the  druggist  whether  he  made  them  or 
