Globules are round in shape, neither soft nor very hard, and easily soluble in water. These are frequently prescribed by the physician in dispensing the medicines.
Source: It is prepared from —
(i) Cane Sugar (mainly) (C12H22O11).
(ii) Beet-root (15—25%) or sugar-beet.
Preparation: By using rotating tube which contains granulated cane sugar. Rotation will be done until it forms spherical form (shape), and size of the globules will be maintained by controlling water spray through it.
Note: Water spray is directly proportional to the size of the globules.
When the required size will be formed it will be removed to a hot chamber where they becomes dry. When the dryness is completed, the globules are made to pass through sieve-screen which has various sized meshes.
In Homeopathy, physicians generally use globules No. 15, 20, 30, 40, larger globules such as 40, 60, 70, or 80 are generally called pillules.
Purity Test:— As it is made of cane sugar:
A solution of globules is inverted by boiling with dilute sulphuric acid (H²SO⁴), and then made alkaline with Caustic soda (NaOH) solution, and boiled with Fehling’s solution. (A red precipitate of cuprous oxide is formed by cane sugar).
Table of Contents
Features of Globules
Physical Features: Round in shape, not soft nor hard. Soluble in water, insoluble in Alcohol.
Odourless, sweet taste as they are made of cane sugar, white in colour.
Melting point: 160°
(i) H²SO⁴ (Conc.) gradually decomposes and chars sugar—the charred mass froths up.
(ii) Conc. HNO³ converts it into Oxalic Acid.
(iii) It is not easily fermentable by yeast.
(iv) It does not reacts with aldehydes or ketones.
For dispensing the medicines, and preservation the medicine is also done, as they retain the medicinal property for a longer period.
Globules should be kept in air tight, well-cleansed vessels, to avoid from moisture because we know that it is easily dissolved in water.
Measurement of Globules
In order to fix a number to any size of globules, we should keep 10 globules of equal size in a line, and then by using millimeter scale it can be easily determined what number they fit. The number of millimeters they measure is the number to be given to the particular size of that globule.
How to Medicate Globules?
The medicines in globule form possess their virtues for a longer period than those in liquid from.
There are two processes of medicating the globules i.e., for limited quantity and for considerable quantity, especially for commercial purposes.
Take a clean phial, fill two-thirds of it with globules and pour a quantity of requisite potency of a drug, cork the phial and gently shake it so that all the globules inside the phial may be uniformly moistened. Then put the phial standing on the cork on a table for eight to ten hours and after loosening the cork a little, pour out the excess carefully. In a day or two, the globules will be perfectly dry and ready for use.
Another proccess of medicating globules is as follows :—
Take a deep clean porcelain bowl and pour as much globules as the vessel can contain keeping one-third portion or a little more or as much portion as you require vacant. Pour enough of the requisite potency of the drug in it in order to moisten them thoroughly in a minute’s time. The contents are then poured off on a dry clean filter paper so that the excess quantity of the drug should be absorbed and the globules when dry may be kept into a phial duly marked with the name and potency of the drug and corked tightly. They are then ready for use.
Source: Dr.N.K. Banerjee and Dr.N. Sinha