When the upper face of the tablet splits off, we speak of "capping." To overcome this, ten per cent. of fat starch may be added to the powder. Should "capping" still occur, the amount of fat starch might be increased. "Capping" may also be due to the use of excessive pressure. It may furthermore be due to die or punches being worn or damaged. When this has occurred, the best thing to do is to get a new set of punches, or to have the damaged one refinished by an expert mechanic, preferably the makers of the tablet machine. It would lead us beyond the scope of this work to give detailed directions for making tablets of all kinds. A pharmacist who has equipped himself with a tablet machine and has developed the ambition to make a general line of tablets[7] may be referred to Mr. Joseph R. Wood's book[8] on this subject. CHAPTER VI. THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORMULAE FOR SWEET TABLETS. Choice of Flavor. THERE are quite a number of medicines sufficiently free from taste and odor to be made perfectly pleasant by the mere admixture of sugar and of flavoring. These can, of course, be prepared with any flavor desired. In the formulary, rose has been chosen as the flavor under these circumstances, but any other flavor may be used instead. Substances that have a slightly acrid taste are generally best disguised by peppermint. For sour taste, lemon is best. Wintergreen was chosen as the flavor for salicylates. Substances that have a slightly bitter taste are best disguised by "vanilla cacao sugar." For drugs that, in addition to a slightly bitter taste, have an odor that needs disguising, "cinnamon cacao sugar" is to be preferred. The Subduing of Tastes. There are quite a number of drugs that have a tendency to leave a rather persistent disagreeable after-taste, drugs of slight solubility, particles of which remain on the tongue longer than the sugar does, so that their taste lingers after the taste of the sugar has disappeared. For such drugs saccharinization solves the problem of candy medication. The saccharin will be most efficient, as the author has shown by repeated experiments, if it is directly incorporated with the drug in solution rather than in dry form. Saccharinization is, therefore, carried out in the formulary by triturating the drug with a saturated (3 per cent.) alcoholic solution of saccharin, and permitting the alcohol to evaporate subsequently. The drying may be expedited by using a hot mortar. When alcohol is not permissible, as in the case of "Alcresta" preparations (see below), dry saccharinization must be used instead, that is, triturating the drug with saccharin, preferably a 1 to 10 trituration. Likewise when time does not permit moist saccharinization, triturating the substance with a somewhat larger amount of saccharin will answer the purpose.