A formulary of selected remedies : with therapeutic annotations, and a copious index of diseases and remedies, diet tables, etc. : a hand-book for prescribers / by E.A. Kirby.

Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A formulary of selected remedies : with therapeutic annotations, and a copious index of diseases and remedies, diet tables, etc. : a hand-book for prescribers / by E.A. Kirby. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    17/256 (page 5)
    1 FORMS OF MEDICINE. 5 expectant mixture, and rely on the pilular form of medicine for the more active and essential part of treatment. In the hospital Pharmacopoeias numerous formulae for mixtures are given. Some confusion has arisen from the fact that mixtures called by the same name represent at the various hospitals quite different combinations. In some instances the variations are only slight, but in others they are very material. The formulae given under this head, pages 135-142, might have been made very numerous, had it not been of some importance to avoid an embarras de richesse, and for all ordinary purposes they will be found sufficient. Pilulse.—Of all forms of medicine this is not only the most popular, but by far the most useful. I have found it convenient to divide this form into three classes according to the size of the pill—pills, pilules, and granules. They may by a suitable coating be made quite tasteless, and in one or other of these forms a host of the most valuable drugs may be administered. The term pilule being of course understood as a diminutive, denoting a small pill; while granule, or grain, as its name implies, does not exceed a grain in weight. For patients who object altogether to the common form of pills, the pilule or granule will be found a most convenient substitute. Of the various forms of medicines which have hitherto been devised, these pilules and granules are to the prac- titioner the most convenient, and the most popular with his patients. Neither the activity nor potency of the old form of pill is sacrificed ; and therefore their manufacture has received a very considerable share of attention since my Ready Method of Dispensing was first introduced to the notice of the profession, and pill-making has become an important and perfectly distinct branch of pharmacy ; this is no doubt owing to the improvements in their manufacture. From time immemorial pill-making has been regarded as both unpleasant and unprofitable, although a very necessary part of dispensing. Now, however, pills in almost endless variety can be had ready prepared far better than it was possible for the practitioner to prepare them himself. Granules,—Although this form was introduced into Eng- lish practice nearly twelve years since, and is now getting more generally adopted, it is not so fully appreciated as, I think, it deserves to be; a large number of the most active