III. Their Form of Prescription.
In our extemporaneous directions, it is necessary to apportion with accuracy the quantity of active materials which we may wish each pill to contain, and since the proportion of the constituent can rarely be exactly defined, the equable division of the whole mass, into a given number of pills, will be safer than defining the weight of each pill.
A pill, the bulk of whose ingredient is vegetable matter, ought not to exceed five grains in weight, but where the substances which compose it are metallic and ponderous, it may without inconvenience weigh six or even eight grains.
TROCHISCI. Troches, or Lozenges.
As these are regarded as objects rather of confectionary than of pharmacy, the London and Dublin Colleges have not condescended to notice them; the Edinburgh Pharmacopœia, however, contains several formulæ for their preparation; and as the form of lozenge offers a very commodious and efficacious method of administering certain remedies, the theory of its operation deserves some notice in the present work. It is principally useful in cases where it is an object that the remedy should pass gradually into the stomach, in order to act as powerfully as possible upon the pharynx and top of the trachea, as in certain demulcents or astringents; for instance, Nitre, when intended to operate in relaxed or inflamed states of the tonsils, is best applied in this manner; so is Sulphate of Zinc in chronic coughs, attended with inordinate secretion. In order to retard as long as possible the solution of the lozenge in the mouth, it ought to be composed of several demulcent substances, such as farinaceous matter, sugar, gum, and isinglass; for such a mixture will be found to answer the purpose better than any one of these articles taken by itself; thus the farinaceous matter will prevent the sugar and the gum from being too soon dissolved; the viscidity of the sugar and gum will prevent the farinaceous matter from being swallowed as soon as it would otherwise be; and the isinglass will give a softness to the whole, and thus prevent any sharp points from stimulating the membrane.
SUPPOSITORIA. Suppositories.
This form of preparation is very ancient, and although it has of late years fallen into disuse, it affords an efficacious mode of administering many powerful remedies, and in some instances of producing effects which the same medicine would not command if given in any other form: besides which, it is found that after the stomach by long use has lost its susceptibility to the action of medicine, such a substance will operate with fresh and unabated force if applied to the rectum. There are two great indications which Suppositories are calculated to fulfil, viz.
1, The alleviation of pain and irritation, especially when it arises from diseases of the bladder, prostate gland, uterus, and other parts in the vicinity. Abortion may be thus frequently prevented. To fulfil these intentions, a mixture of opium with two parts of soap, will be found eligible. I can recommend such an application from a well grounded experience in its efficacy.
2, The production of Catharsis. In cases of Apoplexy, from the counter-irritation which these remedies are likely to occasion, much advantage may arise; and in the failure of more common measures, they may be applied with certain success in the cure of Ascarides; see Formula 146. Where a very efficient Suppository is required, one or two grains of Elaterium rubbed up with eight grains of hard soap, will present us with a combination of great utility.