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Ricard-Digne Cachet Maker

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    Posted 12 years ago

    Bill71
    (3 items)

    I acquired this cachet maker about ten years ago as part of an auction lot of pharmacy related items. Cachet was the name used for medicinal powders encased in a capsule of rice paper. This method was considered an improvement over the loose powder commonly dispensed in folded paper packets by pharmacists in the 19th century. The loose powder was stirred into a glass of water and swallowed. With a cachet, the patient could swallow the unopened cachet with water and avoid the unpleasant taste of medicine. Introduced in France in the 1870's, cachets did not become popular with US pharmacists until after the 1890's when multiple cachet closers were invented. A "Morstadt" cachet closing apparatus somewhat similar to this unit is illustrated in Peter MacEwan, "The Art of Dispensing", 1915. To make cachets, the empty cachet bottoms are positioned on the lower plate. A temporary fill plate is placed over the cachet lower halves and a funnel is used to add the medicinal powder to each bottom. The pharmacist had a choice of 11 mm or 15 mm i.d. fill plate openings. The fill plate keeps powder away from the cachet exterior. Each size fill plate has a matching adjustable stroke plunger to clear powder residue adhering to the fill plate one hole at a time. After the fill plate is removed, with the cachet lids in place on the top cover of the apparatus, the upper and lower halves are brought together and squeezed by pressing on the spring loaded top plate. Stops keep the two plates 6 mm apart so the cachets are not “squished”. Richard-Digne company boasted that their Cacheteur "SECCA" could accommodate anywhere from 2 to 30 cachets at one time, and could seal cachets using their proprietary dry method or the more traditional wet method.
    If anyone has additional information on this device or its maker, I would like to learn more. I have no evidence for date of manufacture. I have not been able to locate photos of any cachet makers by this company, nor any information on the company.

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