It’s not a Civil War bullet press. Patented in 1895, the Whitall Tatum Suppository Machine does away with the old method of melting the ingredients used in making suppositories. After thoroughly mixing the mass and placing it in the cylinder of the machine, a few turns of the wheel delivers solid smooth suppositories formed by cold compression.
Each machine is furnished with a set of molds for making conical tipped suppositories of 3 sizes — 15 grains, 30 grain, and vaginal — and with six molds for making bougies or forming pill mass into rods. The original price of the complete outfit with nine molds was $13.[1]
