Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1892. 
Infusion  of  Digitalis. 
361 
purchased  them  from  some  one  of  the  manufacturers.  Of  the  two 
privileges  he  chose  the  latter,  and  thereby  was  compelled  to  buy 
an  original  package  of  100  tablets  at  a  cost  of  #1.08,  and  .10  cents  for 
car  fare,  making  $1.18.  Twenty  of  them  were  dispensed,  and 
the  balance  still  remain  in  stock,  and  while  tablets  of  different 
strengths  have  been  called  for,  these  have  not  been.  Such  cases  as 
the  above  will  be  frequent;  but  by  being  prepared  to  do  your  own 
compressing,  you  will  not  only  obviate  the  necessity  of  carrying  a 
large  and  unnecessary  stock,  but  will  be  able  to  serve  your  patrons 
with  greater  despatch,  which  is  oftentimes  quite  an  advertisement. 
The  secret  of  success  depends  entirely  upon  having  the  powders 
properly  prepared,  before  subjecting  them  to  compression ;  if  you 
will  therefore  follow  the  directions  as  laid  down  in  Remington's 
Practice  of  Pharmacy,  together  with  a  little  practical  experience,  you 
cannot  but  help  to  meet  with  good  results.  For  hypodermic  tablets, 
Dr.  H.  A.  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia,  recommends  the  use  of  chloride 
of  sodium  as  a  base,  as  being  less  irritant  than  other  substances  ; 
but  for  sulphate  of  morphine  sulphate  of  sodium,  and  for  acetate  ot 
morphine,  acetate  of  sodium  should  be  used. 
It  is  very  necessary  to  keep  your  compressor  in  a  clean  and  thor- 
oughly good  condition.  For  this  purpose  have  a  chamois  skin  greased 
at  one  end  with  vaselin,  and  the  piston  and  barrel  should  be  well 
rubbed  before  and  after  using.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
too  great  pressure  should  not  be  used. 
Compressed  tablets  and  tablet  triturates  have  every  advantage 
over  the  pilular  form  of  medicine,  and  from  the  fact  of  their  not  con- 
taining an  excipient,  which  might  cause  a  chemical  change,  they 
can  be  relied  upon  by  the  physician  with  greater  certainty,  as  com- 
pared to  gelatin  or  other  coated  pills. 
INFUSION  OF  DIGITALIS. 
By  Joseph  W.  England,  Ph.G. 
Read  before  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association,  June  16. 
At  the  Scranton  meeting  of  the  Association  in  1889,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  presenting  a  paper  upon  the  above  subject,  and  wish 
now  to  supplement  the  facts,  then  given,  with  further  information. 
In  the  study  of  the  galenical  preparations  of  a  plant,  the  study  of  the 
plant's  proximate  principles,  active  and  inactive,  is  the  road  through 
