Gelatine for medicinal purposes finds an ever-growing number of
applications. Gelatine capsules for holding greasy liquids and solutions
of nauseous drugs are increasingly popular, for the dose may be
swallowed without unpleasantness. In making these capsules some sugar
is also used, and the finished article is often protected from
atmospheric moisture by treatment with a weak solution of alum. In a
similar way pills are often coated with a 33 per cent. gelatine sol.
Such pills are not only pleasanter to swallow, but are less liable,
after being dried, to stick together in the box. Alcohol solutions of
drugs (or essences, perfumes, etc.) may be suitably stored in gelatine
instead of metal tubes. Medicated wines are detannated by gelatine
before the addition of drugs which would have been precipitated by the
tannin. The British Pharmacopoeia specifies four kinds of "Lamellæ,"
which are small discs of gelatin and glycerin, each containing a minute
but definite dose of some powerful alkaloid. Glycerin jelly is a mixture
of gelatin glycerin with some water. It is used for chapped and rough
hands; the mixture is also used for glycerin suppositories, and for
mounting microscopic sections. The mixture also forms the basis of
gelato-glycerin, used in nasal bougies, and of glyco-gelatin for
medicated lozenges. Gelatine insolubilised by formalin (formo-gelatin)
has been used for making tabloids, wound dressings, and artificial silk.
Gelatine is in constant demand for bacteriological work, for which
purpose a high-grade product is desired. Nutrient media for the culture
of bacteria are solidified by 10-15 per cent. of gelatin, and the growth
of colonies of bacteria often show typical formations. By inoculating
into a melted and sterile quantity and setting quickly in a flat dish
after mixing, the number of bacteria in the volume introduced can be
judged from the number of colonies which develop. Bacteria are also
distinguished often as "liquefying" or "non-liquefying" according to
their type of culture on nutrient gelatine media. Gelatine for such work
should be neutral and of high clarity.
The gelatine required for photographic purposes is also a high-class
product. It should be neutral, colourless, and free from chlorides and
other mineral salts. Grease also is objectionable. Gelatine is used in
the numerous carbon processes, in which the principle is that gelatine
is made insoluble in water by the action of potassium dichromate under
the action of light. It is used also in Poiteoin process for copying
engineering drawings, which is based upon the power of a ferric salt to
render gelatine insoluble so long as it is not exposed to the actinic
rays.
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