pill rolling machine
In the early 20th century, pills were not mass produced and ready to be distributed at a pharmacy the way they are today. If a doctor prescribed you a medicine to be taken in pill form, pharmacists had to create those pills themselves. That was the purpose of this device.
To start with, the pharmacist would mix their wet and dry ingredients separately in different mortars and pestles. They would then combine the ingredients to make a paste, which they would roll out with a pharmaceutical spatula to form a pill pipe (think the long, skinny ropes you made out of Play Dough when you were a child). When the pill pipe was carefully, evenly formed, it was placed in the teeth of the device and the upper component was rolled over top to separate the paste into pills. To finish them off, the pharmacist would round and smooth each pill with a rolling disc.
Watch the video below for a demonstration! (COMING SOON)
