[johnep]

Actually menthol in aqueous cream not so easy as one would expect. I would add a drop or two of IMS (Industrial methylated spirit) to dissolve the menthol and then mix that in.

With powders, these came before tablets and were a weighed quantity of the powder in a 'wrap' of paper. We had a brass trestle which could be set to various lengths to get all neat and tidy. most famous commercial product was Beechams Powders. The folded paper wrap now replaced by a sachet. Cachets used rice paper large capsules, still used for sweets. Capsules need a holder and this could be made from peg board or drilled yourself.

We used to make up morphine suppositories using a suppository mould and cocoa butter. Metal moulds were replaced by plastic using a machine invented by a company Dott Bonapace.

During the war when metal moulds unobtainable, hardwood was used. You could make such a mould very easily by clamping two bits of wood in a vice and drilling the holes where they joined.
johnep