Rhei Pulvis

Use proof spirit or tincture of rhubarb (try. to 3 gr.); a soft mass should be made and rolled quickly, otherwise it is troublesome. Only twenty-four pills should be made at once, or the mass assumes a leathery condition, and has to be thrown away.

Rhubarb is, like many other substances, one for which each dispenser has his own excipient, as may be judged from the following recommendations by skilled pharmacists:

(1) Simple syrup is better than either spirit or water for massing powdered rhubarb.

(2) Use a mixture of equal parts of glycerin and tincture of rhubarb (try. to 3 gr.).

(3) For powdered rhubarb, a mixture of glycerin 2 parts, rectified spirit 1 part, answers well.

(4) Powdered rhubarb makes a good mass with one-fifth its weight of glycerin.

(5) Treacle is the most valuable excipient for powdered rhubarb.

(6) One of the best excipients is glycerin and rectified spirit, equal parts.

For the following pills glucose syrup gives a mass which does not crumble in rolling:

With watery excipients there is much worry in this case.

Salol

Masses well with glucanth, but the excipient must be adapted to the combination, e.g.:

No. I. masses nicely with mucilage of acacia and a little rectified spirit, the latter being required to keep down the size of the pill. For No. II. melt 20 grains of Roe's excipient and add the phenol and salol, pour on the extracts previously thinned with a little glycerin and water, and mix quickly; allow to stand for some time, and stiffen with liquorice and tragacanth.