Chapter XVIII

ORIGIN OF THE SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES—APOTHECARIES AND THEIR
PRACTICE—APOTHECARIES AND THEIR BILLS—CURIOUS REMEDIES—A DRUG
PRICE LIST OF 1685.

Earliest record of an apothecary in England—Powers granted
to the College of Physicians—Foundation of the Society of
Apothecaries—Nicholas Culpepper—History of the Society—Charter
granted—The first hall and council house—Examinations
found necessary—The apothecaries and the druggists—The
glass tax—Rules for the guidance of apothecaries—The sale
of drugs and poisons restricted in Glasgow—A cavalier’s
experience of apothecaries and their treatment—His doctor’s
bill and his opinion on it—Apothecaries’ bills—Favourite
methods of administration—Animal _materia medica_—Broth
of viper—Curious remedies employed—Drugs used by the
physician to King Edward I.—Physicking an ambassador—An
apothecary’s advertisement—Physicians’ fees—Midwife’s
fee in the seventeenth century—Ancient pharmaceutical
preparations and their origin—Mediæval method of improving
the complexion—Human blood as a remedial agent—Celtic
recipes—A remedy for drunkenness—Oil of red dog and its
preparation—Strange recipes—The “everlasting pill”—Cleopatra
and the asp—Ancient method of changing the colour of the
hair—The aloe of Scripture—Pharmacy 200 years ago—The cupidity
of the apothecaries—Denouncing the apothecaries—Herb-women of
London—The price of bottles in 1656—Popular preparations—A
drug price-list of 1685 _pages_ 175-211

CHAPTER XIX.

PHARMACY IN THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

An apothecary’s shop in the time of Queen Elizabeth—Description
of the interior—The customers—Apothecaries’
prescriptions—Apothecaries’ guilds and their injunctions as to
prayer—The itinerant dentist—Medicaments used in the time of
Queen Elizabeth _pages_ 212-220

CHAPTER XX.

FAMOUS EMPIRICS AND THEIR NOSTRUMS.

Early methods of introducing a nostrum—The origin of
quack medicines—The Elixir of Life—The Collyrium
of Danares—Sympathetic Powder—Hoffman’s Water of
Magnanimity—Dutch Drops—_Eau Médicinale de Husson_—Dr. James’
fever powder—Count St. Germain’s tea—Cagliostro’s Balm of
Life—How the Count was confounded—Count Thün of Leipzig—Dr.
Brodum and his “Nervous Cordial”—Dr. Solomon and his “Balm of
Gilead”—How “the doctor” was punished—Perkin’s Tractors—An old
ballad _pages_ 221-228

CHAPTER XXI.

THE ANTIQUITY AND HISTORY OF THE MORTAR.

The origin of the mortar—Derivation of the name—Primitive
mortars—Grain crushers—Egyptian mortars—Antiquity
of the mortar in Africa—A Cingalese mortar—Roman
mortaria—Manufactories of mortaria in Britain—Stone
mortars—Wooden querns—Origin of the pestle and mortar
as a trade sign—Iron mortars—Bell-metal mortars—Brass
mortars—Copper mortars—Marble mortars—Modern mortars
_pages_ 229-237

PART II.

ALCHEMY AND PHARMACY IN LITERATURE.

CHAPTER I.
PAGES
Chaucer 239-252

CHAPTER II.
Shakespeare 253-277

CHAPTER III.
Spenser 278-282

CHAPTER IV.
Goethe 283-291

CHAPTER V.
Le Sage 292-299

CHAPTER VI.
Ben. Jonson 300-302

CHAPTER VII.
Sir Walter Scott 303-305

CHAPTER VIII.
Dumas 306-311

CHAPTER IX.
Reade 312-321

CHAPTER X.
Dickens, Thackeray 322-328

CHAPTER XI.
Marryat 329-335

ALCHEMY AND PHARMACY:

THEIR MYSTERY AND ROMANCE.