Pill cutter, Europe, 1801-1900

Pill machine for making up to 30 pills by hand, probably 19th century

In the 1800s, pills were cut from a large long roll of a mixture of the drug and cut into pieces. The dosage could be worked out by measuring the length of the roll and dividing by the number of identical pills. This pill cutter allowed the pills to be cut more accurately into equal pieces. It is worked by hand and is capable of making thirty pills in one go. It also has space to roll out the mixture.