Pilulae Conii Compositae. Lond. Compound Pills of Hemlock

"Take of extract of hemlock, five drachms; ipecacuanha, powdered, a drachm; mixture of acacia, a sufficient quantity. Beat them together into a mass."

A useful form of administering conium in conjunction with ipecacuanha in bronchitis, pertussis, and other pulmonary affections. The dose is from grs. v. to grs. vii.

Pilulae Ferri Compositae. Lond. Dub. Pills of Iron with Myrrh

"Take of myrrh, in powder, two drachms; carbonate of soda, sulphate of iron, treacle, of each a drachm. Rub the myrrh with the carbonate of soda; then, having added the sulphate of iron, rub again; and, lastly, beat the whole in a mortar previously warmed into an uniform mass."

This is an useful emmenagogue pill, similar in its properties to Griffith's mixture. The dose is from grs. x. to Эj., given twice or three times a day.

Pilulae Galbani Compositae. Lond. Compound Pills of Galbanum

"Take of galbanum, an ounce; myrrh, sagapenum, of each an ounce and a half; assafoetida, half an ounce; syrup, a sufficient quantity. Beat them together into an uniform mass."

Pilulae Assafoetidae compositae, Edin. Compound Assafoetida Pills.

"Take of assafoetida, galbanum, myrrh, of each eight parts; purified oil of amber, one part. Beat them into a mass with simple syrup."

2 Pilulae gummosae, P. L. 1720.

Dublin. "Take of assafoetida, half an ounce; myrrh in powder, one ounce and a half; sagapenum, galbanum, of each an ounce; oil of amber, half a, drachm. Rub them together, and make them into a mass with simple syrup."

Syn. Pilules de Galbanum composee (F.), Pillole di Galbano composte (I.).

These preparations are useful antispasmodics and emmena-gogues; and are given with advantage in chlorosis, hysteria, and hypochondriasis. The dose is from grs. x. to Э j., taken every night at bed-time.

Pilulae Hydrargyri. Lond. Dub. Mercurial Pills

"Take of mercury, two drachms; confection of the French rose, three drachms; liquorice in powder, a drachm. Rub the mercury with the confection until the globules disappear; then add the liquorice root, and beat the whole into an uniform mass."

Edinburgh.

"Take of purified mercury, conserve of the red rose, of each an ounce; starch, two ounces. Rub the mercury with the conserve in a glass mortar until the globules entirely disappear, adding, if necessary, a little mucilage of gum-arabic; then add the starch, and with a little water beat the whole into a mass, which is to be directly divided into four hundred and eighty equal-sized pills."

Syn. Pilules mercurielles (F.), Pillole mercuriale (I,).

One grain of mercury is contained in three grains of the mass, made according to the London and Dublin formulae, and in four grains according to the Edinburgh.

In these preparations the mercury is first minutely divided by the viscosity of the conserve, the substance with which it is triturated, and it is supposed that the metal is oxidized; and that the great extension of surface, and, in some degree, the substance used in the trituration, facilitate this effect. Further experiments are certainly requisite to determine this question. Syrup, honey, mucilage, soap, guaiacum, and other matters, have been occasionally employed; on the Continent the oil of eggs has been used for dividing the mercury1, and certainly no substance so rapidly assists in producing the desired effect as this oil, when it has been kept for some time. The more assiduously the trituration is continued, the more perfect is the preparation. The sufficient division of the metal, or the oxidizement of the whole of the globules, or the extinction or killing of the mercury, in the common language of the laboratory, is known to be completed, when, on rubbing a small portion of the mass with the point of the finger on a piece of clean paper, no metallic globules are perceptible.

The mass must be then immediately formed into pills, as it very rapidly becomes too hard, if allowed to remain.

1 Vide Lond. Med. Repository, vol. p. 166.

Medical properties and uses. - These pills are alterative and antisyphilitic, and are the most common form under which mercury is exhibited for the cure of venereal affections, being much less liable to act on the bowels than any of the other forms. When they act on the bowels, they should be combined with opium, or with a few grains of rhubarb, which enable the bowels to resist the mercurial irritation. The common dose is from grs. v. to grs. x., or two pills, given twice a day, until the mouth be affected. Larger doses excite purging.