Hydrastina

This alkaloid and its hydrochloride mass well with glucanth.

Ichthyolum

Ordinary ichthyol makes a bad pill. When more than 2 grains is ordered in one pill the method recommended in the New Remedies chapter should be adopted.

Insoluble Chemicals

For substances insoluble, or nearly so, in water, and entirely devoid of adhesive property, such as subsalts of bismuth, cerium oxalate, iodoform, etc, glycerin of tragacanth is the best excipient. In some cases a mixture of equal parts of acacia and tragacanth with syrup gives more adhesiveness and excellent results.

Iodum

Rarely prescribed by itself in pill, but we have met with the following:

Iodi . . . . . . . . gr. ss.

Fiant pilube sex.

The iodine was triturated in a mortar with a few drops of rectified spirit, 3 grains of kaolin added, and a mass made with kaolin ointment. Pills so made keep better than if glycerin of tragacanth is used as an excipient.

Iridinum

This and other resinoids mass easily with glycerin of tragacanth or dispensing-syrup. The following gave difficulty owing to the essential oil reacting in some way with the iridin:

Misce, fiat massa et divide in pilulas sex.

Mix the oil with 6 grains of powdered soap and add the other ingredients; mass smartly.

Lithium Salts mass well with dispensing-syrup.

Lupulin and Camphor are not readily made into a plastic mass by the usual excipients without considerably increasing the size of the pills, but ether very sparingly used yields a good mass without any other addition.

Manganesii Sulphas

Mass with glucanth.

Menthol

This behaves like carbolic acid ; thus:

Fiat pilula. Mitte tales xxiv.

The first two ingredients liquefy, and an absorbent is required (kieselguhr) with 1/2 grain of soap to each pill.

Moschus

Squire gives 'Musk 12, powdered acacia 3, powdered liquorice 3:mix.'

Naphthalinum

Triturate with its own weight of sugar of milk, and mass with glycerin of tragacanth.

Niccoli Bromidum

Add a fourth of its weight of althaea or liquorice, and mass with glucanth or extract of gentian.

Oleum Crotonis

Powdered curd soap, with a little glycerin of tragacanth, does well for croton oil. When a dispenser gets a prescription such as the following to compound, the best plan is to add 2 grains of wheaten flour to each minim of oil, and mass with the confection:

Ft. pil. iv.

The dispenser who got this prescription melted 5 grains of yellow wax in a mortar and added the oil; mixed and added 2 grains of confection, then massed with liquorice. It made a fair mass. But, from what has already been said about wax, such procedure may result in a pill which will pass through the body unchanged.