NEW OR IMPROVED MODES AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MEDICINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Axel Johan Amnéus, M.D., of .Upsala, in the
Kingdom of Sweden, but at present of 3 and 4, Great Winchester
Street Buildings, in the City of London, for the Invention of
"NEW OR IMPROVED MODES AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MEDICINES."-A
communication from abroad by August Almén, M.D., and Professor,
of Upsala, in the Kingdom of Sweden.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Axel Johan Amnéus
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd April 1873.
I, AXEL JOHAN AMNÉUS, M.D., of Upsala, in the Kingdom of
Sweden, but at present of 3 and 4, Great Winchester Street Buildings,
in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "NEW OR IMPROVED MODES AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MEDICINES"
(a communication to me from abroad by August Almén, M.D., and
Professor, of Upsala, in the-Kingdom of Sweden), to be as follows:-
F. The object of this Invention is the manufacture of a species of thin
wafers or lozenges (lamella) of glue, glycerine, and a certain determined

page_text: quantity of some strong medicine. (They may be called " gelatinæ
medicatæ in lamellis.) For this purpose I use a plate of slate, glass,
metal, or other suitable material, divided into exactly equal small
squares or other figures. To prevent the gelatine from sticking to the
plate I smear the latter with tallow dissolved in oil of petroleum or
petroleum, ether, or other suitable substance, and I then warm it to
render the surface smooth. A suitable quantity of gelatina alba is then
dissolved in water by heat and strained if required, and glycerine is then
added sufficient to render the gelatine stiff without being brittle. For
this purpose different quantities of glycerine, according to the different
nature of the medicines, will be requisite. In this transparent mixture
of glue and glycerine the exact weight of medicine intended for the
required number of doses is dissolved, and well mixed. When almost
cold, but still quite fluid, the mixture is poured out upon the plate. In
about an hour's time the mass will be so far set that the plate may be
suspended near a stove to dry, and in a day or two it will be quite
dry. The gelatine may then be casily detached from the plate, and by
means of a little petroleum freed from any tallow that might adhere
to it.
Gelatines containing medicines not soluble in water are prepared as
follows I compound a very fine and homogeneous emulsion in the
usual manner with powdered gum arabic, glycerine, part of the water
and the medicine to which, during continued rubbing in the mortar, I
add the gelatina alba dissolved in the remainder of the water, after
which the mixture, while the rubbing is still continued, is poured out
on the plate, so as to be of the same uniform thickness all over. The
rest of the process is as before described.
Medicines prepared or compounded as before described offer many
important advantages, the principal of which may be here mentioned.
The medicines are accurately divided into doses, keep for years, and are
always ready for immediate use; they are also much cheaper than other
preparations. They are easily swallowed with a little water, and are
almost tasteless, advantages not to be overlooked, at least as regards
medicine administered to children. The facility and convenience with
which they can be carried and kept is however their chief advantage.
A medical man can in his pocket book carry a little travelling medical
store containing a selection of the most important medicines ready to
be used at a moment's notice in larger or smaller doses according as

page_text: one or more of the little squares are administered; great advantages to
naval and military surgeons, especially in time of war, and to travellers.
and the public generally.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Axel Johan Amnéus in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AXEL
JOHAN AMNÉUS, M.D., of Upsala, in the Kingdom of Sweden, but at
present of 3 and 4, Great Winchester Street Buildings, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth ycar of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Axel Johan Amnéus, Her special
licence, that I, the said Axel Johan Amnéus, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Axel Johan
Amnéus, niy executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "NEW OR IMPROVED MODES AND MEANS FOR PREPARING MEDICINES" (a
communication to me from abroad by August Almen, M.D. and Pro-
fessor, of Upsala, in the Kingdom of Sweden), upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Axel Johan Amnéus, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I. the said Axel Johan Amnéus, do hereby

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is the manufacture of a species of thin
wafers or lozenges (lamellæ) of glue, glycerine, and a certain determined
quantity of some strong medicine. They may be called “ gelatinæ
'medicatæ in lamellis." For this purpose I use a plate of slate, glass,
metal, or other suitable material divided into exactly equal small
squares, or other figures. To prevent the gelatine from sticking to the
plate I smear the latter with tallow dissolved in oil of petroleum or
petroleum, ether, or other suitable substance, and I then warm it to
render the surface smooth. A suitable quantity of gelatina alba is then
dissolved in water by heat and strained if required, and glycerine is
then added sufficient to render the gelatine stiff without being brittle.
For this purpose different quantities of glycerine, according to the
different nature of the medicines, will be requisite. In this transparent
mixture of glue and glycerine the exact weight of medicine intended for
the required number of doses is dissolved, and well mixed. When
almost cold, but still quite fluid, the mixture is poured out upon the
plate. In about an hour's time the 'mass will be so far set that the
plate may be suspended near a stove to dry, and in a day or two it will
be quite dry. The gelatine may then be easily detached from the plate,
and by means of a little petroleum freed from any tallow that might
adhere to it.
Gelatines containing medicines not soluble in water are prepared as
follows: I compound a very fine and homogeneous emulsion in the
usual manner with powdered gum arabic, glycerine, part of the water
and the medicine to which, during continued rubbing in the mortar,
I add gelatina alba dissolved in the remainder of the water, after
which the mixture, while the rubbing is still continued, is poured out
on the plate, so as to be of the same uniform thickness all over. The
rest of the process is as before described.
Medicines prepared or compounded as before described offer many
important advantages, the principal of which may be here mentioned.
The medicines are accurately divided into doses, keep for years, and are
always ready for immediate use; they are also much cheaper than other
preparations. They are easily swallowed with a little water, and are
almost tasteless, advantages not to be overlooked, at least as regards

page_text: medicine administered to children. The facility and convenience with
which they can be carried and kept is however their chief advantage.
A medical man can in his pocket book carry a little travelling medical
store containing a selection of the most important medicines ready to
be used at a moment's notice in larger or smaller doses, according as one
or more of the little squares are administered; great advantages to
naval and military surgeons, especially in time of war, and to travellers
and the public generally.
In witness whercof, I, the said Axel Johan Amnéus, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
threc.