Pill Roller
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This instrument is made of Mahogany wood and solid brass and consists of three parts: A slanted base plate, roller handle and drawer. The base plate has two brass side rails and fluted brass strip with graduated markings indicating 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24 grooves. The roller has 4 brass wheels and a fluted strip that matches the base plate strip. The drawer could be removed. Stages in making a pill:
1. A prescription for pills would give the weight of medication in one pill and the number of pills required. Multiplying these two figures gave the quantities to be weighed. 2. The medication was mixed with very thick and viscous syrup of glucose to form a stiff pliable mass, which was rolled to get a ‘sausage’ shape. 3. The ‘sausage’ was placed on the Pill Machine grooves and rolled to a length correspond to the number of pills required. 4. The roller handle was guided to cut the ‘sausage’ and roll the cut pieces that are the pills. |
In the late 1800s, men learned to be pharmacists by being apprentices. He learned to make medicines from plants and mineral salts. He measured out liquids, mixed them, and capped them in bottles. He used a hand tool called a pestle to grind substances in a mortar — a small, deep bowl. He created a roll of paste of the pharmaceutical materials, then used a device called a pill roller to roll the paste into equal size parts and cut them into pills.
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Pill Roller: The pill roller was used to make "pills" from a medicinal mixture by repeated rolling. "Pills are distinct from tablets in that they are molded from a moistened mixture of drug and other ingredients, whereas tablets are compressed
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