Our Secretary, Sandra Goodge, has chosen an unusual wood and brass device from our archive, as our Item of the Month – an Apothecary’s Pill Roller.
These devices were in use before the mass-production of medicines began in the 19th and 20th century, when pharmacists used to create medicines in-house by rolling pills by hand in devices like this.
Speeding up pill production
It would have been slow and labour intensive, but these rollers helped to speed up the process. That began with a doctor’s prescription which detailed the weight of each ingredient needed within the pill, and the number of pills for the patient. Using that recipe, the pharmacist would then measure the ingredients, grind them up in a mortar and pestle, add a wet or dry binding agent like soap, milk power, or glucose syrup so that the ingredients became a paste.
Once the ingredients had bound together, they could be moulded into a thin pipe shape. Before the pill roller was available, the pharmacist would cut the ‘pipe’ into individual pills, roll them into a spherical shape, and then dispense them to the patient.
The pill roller helped by allowing the pharmacist to place the ‘pipe’ onto the roller plate, and then slide the plates back and forth to cut and roll multiple pills at once into the same size and shape. It was still slow and arduous by our modern standards, but it was at least a great leap forward in efficiency and standardisation at the time. Pill sizes could also be changed by switching the cutter plates.
Latest acquisitions
Amongst our latest acquisitions, we have also received:
- Hope Brothers Ltd ‘The Prince Bow’ bow tie.
- Framed print of ‘All Things Bright And Beautiful’ by Margaret W. Tarrant, from St. Crispin’s Church (Ref: LS2024.0121).
