apothecary

The term "apothecary" derives from the Ancient Greek {{wikt-lang|grc|ἀποθήκη}} ({{Transliteration|grc|apothḗkē}}, "a repository, storehouse") via Latin {{lang|la|apotheca}} ("repository, storehouse, warehouse", cf. {{linktext|bodega}} and {{linktext|boutique}}), Medieval Latin {{lang|la|apothecarius}} ("storekeeper"), and eventually Old French {{lang|fro|apotecaire}}.{{OEtymD|apothecary}}

In some European and other languages, the term is current and used to designate a pharmacist/chemist, such as Dutch and German {{lang|de|Apotheker}},{{Cite web|url=https://www.vandale.nl/gratis-woordenboek/nederlands/betekenis/Apotheker|title=Apotheker - Van Dale|website=vandale.nl|access-date=2020-12-03}} Hungarian {{lang|hu|patikus}}, Irish {{lang|ga|poitigéir}}, Latvian {{lang|lv|aptiekārs}} and Luxembourgish {{lang|lb|Apdikter}}.{{cite web|title=Apdikter|url=http://www.lod.lu/|website=Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire|publisher=Ministère de la Culture|access-date=13 December 2016}} Likewise, "pharmacy" translates as {{lang|da|apotek}} in Danish,{{Cite web|url=http://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=apotek&tab=for|title=apotek — Den Danske Ordbog|website=ordnet.dk|access-date=2016-05-24}} Norwegian{{Cite web|url=https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=apotek&nynorsk=+&ordbok=nynorsk|title=Bokmålsordboka {{!}} Nynorskordboka|website=ordbok.uib.no|access-date=2019-09-17}}{{Cite web|url=https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=apotek&bokmaal=+&ordbok=bokmaal|title=Bokmålsordboka {{!}} Nynorskordboka|website=ordbok.uib.no|access-date=2019-09-17}} and Swedish, {{lang|fi|apteekki}} in Finnish, {{lang|bs|apoteka}} in Bosnian, {{lang|hu|patika}} in Hungarian, {{lang|lv|aptieka}} in Latvian, {{lang|sr|апотека}} ({{Transliteration|sr|apoteka}}) in Serbian, {{lang|ru|аптека}} ({{Transliteration|ru|apteka}}) in Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Ukrainian, {{lang|de|Apotheke}} in German and {{lang|pl|apteka}} in Polish.{{Cite web|url=https://sjp.pwn.pl/sjp/apteka;2441040.html|title=apteka – Słownik języka polskiego PWN|website=sjp.pwn.pl|language=pl|access-date=2019-09-17}} The word in Indonesian is {{lang|id|apoteker}},{{Cite web|title=Hasil Pencarian - KBBI Daring|url=https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id/entri/apoteker|website=kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id|access-date=2020-05-19}} which was borrowed from the Dutch {{lang|nl|apotheker}}.{{Cite web|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apotek#Indonesian|title=apotek - Wiktionary|website=en.wiktionary.org|access-date=2019-03-22}} In Yiddish the word is {{lang|yi|אַפּטייק}} {{Transliteration|yi|apteyk}}.

Use of the term in the names of businesses varies with time and location. It is generally an Americanism, though some areas of the United States use it to invoke an experience of nostalgic revival and it has been used for a wide variety of businesses; while in other areas such as California its use is restricted to licensed pharmacies.{{cite web|url=https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/candlepwr/going-medieval-the-revival-of-apothecary/|title=Going medieval: The revival of "apothecary"|last1=Friedman|first1=N.|date=2014|website=Visual Thesaurus|access-date=13 December 2016}}

File:Apothicaire.jpg

In Exodus 30:25 of the Bible the art of the apothecary is already mentioned.{{cite web | url=https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Exodus-30-35/ | title=EXODUS 30:35 KJV "And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:" }} The profession of apothecary can be dated back at least to 2600 BC to ancient Babylon, which provides one of the earliest records of the practice of the apothecary. Clay tablets have been found with medical texts recording symptoms, prescriptions, and the directions for compounding.{{cite journal|url=https://www.perrigo.com/business/pdfs/Sec%20Artem%2011.3.pdf|title=A history of pharmaceutical compounding|last=Allen|first=L. Jr.|date=2011|volume=11|number=3|journal=Secundum Artem|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128014521/https://www.perrigo.com/business/pdfs/Sec%20Artem%2011.3.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-28 |access-date=2019-11-07}}

The Papyrus Ebers from ancient Egypt, written around 1500 BC, contain a collection of more than 800 prescriptions. It lists over 700 different drugs.{{cite journal|last=American Botanical Council.|year=1998|title=A pictorial history of herbs in medicine and pharmacy|journal=Herbalgram|issue=42|pages=33–47}}

In ancient India, the Sushruta Samhita, a compendium on the practice of medicine and medical formulations, has been traced back to the 1st century BC.{{Cite book|last=Meulenbeld|first=G. J|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/872371654|title=A history of Indian medical literature.|date=2000|isbn=90-6980-124-8|volume=IA|location=Groningen|pages=342–344|oclc=872371654}}

The Shen-nung pen ts'ao ching, a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants (3rd century AD),Pursell, J. (2015). The herbal apothecary: 100 medicinal herbs and how to use them. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon {{ISBN|978-1604695670}}US National Library of Medicine. “Shen Nung, the Divine Husbandman.” [https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/chinesemedicine/emperors.html Classics of Traditional Chinese Medicine], from the History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, an online version of an exhibit held at the NLM, Nationals Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD October 19, 1999-May 30, 2000. is considered a foundational material for Chinese medicine and herbalism and became an important source for Chinese apothecaries.{{Cite book|title=The herbal apothecary: 100 medicinal herbs and how to use them|last=Pursell|first=J.|publisher=Timber Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1604695670|location=Portland, Oregon|pages=3–14}} The book, which documented 365 treatments, had a focus on roots and grass. It had treatments which came from minerals, roots and grass, and animals. Many of the mentioned drugs and their uses are still followed today. Ginseng's use as a sexual stimulant and aid for erectile dysfunction stems from this book.{{Cite book|title=Illustrated yellow emperor's canon of medicine|last=Chuncai|first=Z.|publisher=Dolphin Books|year=2002|isbn=978-7800518171 |edition=Chinese/English }} Ma huang, an herb first mentioned in the book, led to the introduction of the drug ephedrine into modern medicine.

According to Sharif Kaf al-Ghazal, and S. Hadzovic, apothecary shops existed during the Middle Ages in Baghdad,Al-Ghazal, S.K. (2004). [http://www.ishim.net/ishimj/4/02.pdf "The valuable contributions of Al-Razi (Rhazes) in the history of pharmacy during the Middle Ages"], Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine, 3(6), pp. 9-11. operated by pharmacists in 754 during the Abbasid Caliphate, or Islamic Golden Age.{{Cite journal|last=Hadzović|first=S.|year=1997|title=Pharmacy and the great contribution of Arab-Islamic science to its development|journal=Medicinski Arhiv|language=hr|volume=51|issue=1–2|pages=47–50|issn=0350-199X|oclc=32564530|pmid=9324574}} Apothecaries were also active in Al-Andalus by the 11th century.{{Cite book|title=The history of cartography|last1=Harley|first1=J.B.|last2=Woodward|first2=D.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-226-31635-2|volume=2|page=28}}

By the end of the 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer ({{circa|1342}}–1400) was mentioning an English apothecary in the Canterbury Tales, specifically "The Nun's Priest's Tale" as Pertelote speaks to Chauntecleer (lines 181–184):

... and for ye shal nat tarie,

Though in this toun is noon apothecarie,

I shal myself to herbes techen yow,

That shul been for youre hele and for youre prow.

In modern English, this can be translated as:

''... and you should not linger,

Though in this town there is no apothecary,

I shall teach you about herbs myself,

That will be for your health and for your pride.

In Renaissance Italy, Italian Nuns became a prominent source for medicinal needs. At first they used their knowledge in non-curative uses in the convents to solidify the sanctity of religion among their sisters. As they progressed in skill they started to expand their field to create profit. This profit they used towards their charitable goals. Because of their eventual spread to urban society, these religious women gained "roles of public significance beyond the spiritual realm (Strocchia 627).{{cite journal|last1=Strocchia|first1=S.T.|date=2011|title=The nun apothecaries of Renaissance Florence: Marketing medicines in the convent|journal=Renaissance Studies|volume=25|issue=5|pages=627–647|doi=10.1111/j.1477-4658.2011.00721.x|s2cid=152957502 }} Later apothecaries led by nuns were spread across the Italian peninsula.

File:Early Italian Pharmacy 17th century fa 2000.001.263.tif, Philadelphia.]]

From the 15th century to the 16th century, the apothecary gained the status of a skilled practitioner. In London, the apothecaries merited their own livery company, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, founded in 1617.{{cite book|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001573490|title=The history of the society of apothecaries of London|last1=Barrett|first1=C.R.B.|date=1905|publisher=E. Stock|location=London|quote=I shall endeavour to trace the history of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, from its incorporation as a separate body on December 6, 1617, down to the present day.}}{{cite journal|last1=Copeman|first1=W.S.|date=1967|title=The worshipful society of apothecaries of London--1617-1967|journal=Br Med J|volume=4|issue=5578|pages=540–541|doi=10.1136/bmj.4.5578.540|pmc=1749172|pmid=4863972}} Its roots, however, go back much earlier to the Guild of Pepperers formed in London in 1180.{{cite web|url=http://www.apothecaries.org/charity/the-archives/our-history|title=Origins|website=The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London|access-date=2016-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111093813/http://www.apothecaries.org/charity/the-archives/our-history|archive-date=2016-11-11|url-status=dead}} Similarly in Ireland, Apothecaries were organized since before 1446.Apothecaries' Hall of Ireland In Ireland and Great Britain they were allowed to diagnose in addition to compounding and dispensing, becoming regulated general medical practitioners and the forerunners of General Practitioners there.

File:Interior of Apothecary's Shop.jpg

File:Alfred Jacob Miller - The Lady Apothecary - Walters 3725104.jpg (between 1825 and 1870).{{cite web |publisher= The Walters Art Museum

|url= http://art.thewalters.org/detail/11514

|title= The Lady Apothecary}} Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.]]

However, there were ongoing tensions between apothecaries and other medical professions, as is illustrated by the publication of 'A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries' by the Physician Christopher Merrett in 1669{{Cite web|last=Merrett|first=Christopher|date=1669|title=A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15910/15910-h/15910-h.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-26|website=Project Gutenberg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524155029/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15910/15910-h/15910-h.htm |archive-date=2006-05-24 }} and the experiences of Susan Reeve Lyon and other women apothecaries in 17th century London. Often women (who were prohibited from entering medical school) became apothecaries which took away business from male physicians.{{Cite journal |jstor = 3174557|title = Women's Medical Practice and Health Care in Medieval Europe|journal = Signs|volume = 14|issue = 2|pages = 434–473|last1 = Green|first1 = Monica|year = 1989|doi = 10.1086/494516| pmid=11618104 | s2cid=38651601 }} In 1865 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first woman to be licensed to practice medicine in Britain by passing the examination of the Society of Apothecaries.{{cite journal|last1=Porrirr|first1=A.G.|date=1919|title=Reviewed work: The life of Sophia Jex-Blake, by Margaret Todd|journal=Political Science Quarterly|volume=34|issue=1|page=180|jstor=2141537}} By the end of the 19th century, the medical professions had taken on their current institutional form, with defined roles for physicians and surgeons, and the role of the apothecary was more narrowly conceived, as that of pharmacist (dispensing chemist in British English).{{cite journal|last1=Liaw|first1=S.T.|last2=Peterson|first2=G.|date=2009|title=Doctor and pharmacist - back to the apothecary!|journal=Australian Health Review |volume=33|issue=2|pages=268–78|doi=10.1071/ah090268|pmid=19563315|doi-access=free}}

In German-speaking countries, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, pharmacies or chemist stores are still called apothecaries or in German Apotheken. The Apotheke ("store") is legally obligated to be run at all times by at least one Apotheker (male) or Apothekerin (female), who actually has an academic degree as a pharmacist – in German Pharmazeut (male) or Pharmazeutin (female) – and has obtained the professional title Apotheker by either working in the field for numerous years, usually by working in a pharmacy store, or taking additional exams. Thus a Pharmazeut is not always an Apotheker.{{cite web|title=German Pharmacy, Apotheke, vs Drogerie|url=http://www.journey-to-germany.com/german-pharmacy.html|website=Journey to Germany|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220123418/http://www.journey-to-germany.com/german-pharmacy.html|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=dead}} Magdalena Neff became the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Germany when she studied pharmacy at the Technical University of Karlsruhe and later passed the apothecary's examination in 1906.{{cite book|title=Frauen in der Pharmazie: Die Geschichte eines Frauenberufs|last1=Beisswanger|first1=G.|last2=Hahn|first2=G.|last3=Seibert|first3=E.|last4=Szász|first4=I.|last5=Trischler|first5=C.|date=2001|publisher=Deutscher Apotheker Verlag|location=Stuttgart}}

Apothecaries used their own measurement system, the apothecaries' system, to provide precise weighing of small quantities.{{cite web|url=http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/weight/|title=Tables of weights and measures. Apothecaries' weight|last1=Cazalet|first1=S.|date=2001|website=HOMÉOPATHE INTERNATIONAL}} Apothecaries dispensed vials of poisons as well as medicines, and as is still the case, medicines could be either beneficial or harmful if inappropriately used. Protective methods to prevent accidental ingestion of poisons included the use of specially-shaped containers for potentially poisonous substances such as laudanum.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N4N9bsxc2LYC&pg=PA35|title=History of drug containers and their labels|last1=Griffenhagen|first1=G.|last2=Bogard|first2=M.|date=1999|publisher=American Institute of the History of Pharmacy|isbn=978-0931292262|location=Madison, Wisconsin|page=35|access-date=13 December 2016}}

{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}

Apothecary businesses were typically family-run, and wives or other women of the family worked alongside their husbands in the shops, learning the trade themselves. Women were still not allowed to train and be educated in universities so this allowed them a chance to be trained in medical knowledge and healing. Previously, women had some influence in other women's healthcare, such as serving as midwives and other feminine care in a setting that was not considered appropriate for males. Though physicians gave medical advice, they did not make medicine, so they typically sent their patients to particular independent apothecaries, who did also provide some medical advice, in particular remedies and healing.

Many recipes for medicines included herbs, minerals, and pieces of animals (meats, fats, skins) that were ingested, made into paste for external use, or used as aromatherapy. Some of these are similar to natural remedies used today, including catnip,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNqilBFdfJ4C&pg=PA166|title=Drugs and pharmacy in the life of Georgia, 1733-1959|last1=Wilson|first1=R.C.|date=2010|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0820335568|location=Athens, Georgia|page=166|access-date=13 December 2016}} chamomile, fennel, mint, garlic, and witch hazel.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/medicinalplantsi00davi|title=Medicinal plants in folk tradition: An ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland|last1=Allen|first1=D.E.|last2=Hatfield|first2=G.|date=2004|publisher=Timber Press|isbn=9780881926385|location=Portland (Or.) [etc.]|url-access=registration}} Many other ingredients used in the past such as urine, fecal matter, earwax, human fat, and saliva, are no longer used and are generally considered ineffective or unsanitary.{{cite web|url=http://writingren.blogspot.com/2008/06/remedies-and-recipes.html|title=Remedies and recipes|last1=Douglas|first1=J.|date=2008|website=Writing the Renaissance|access-date=3 November 2014}} Trial and error were the main source for finding successful remedies, as little was known about the chemistry of why certain treatments worked. For instance, it was known that drinking coffee could help cure headaches, but the existence and properties of caffeine itself was still a mystery.{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.org/Foundation/magazine/Spring17/apothecaries.cfm|title=A Dose of Expertise|last=Trifone|first=N.|date=2017|access-date=8 October 2017}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Hildegard of Bingen
• Paracelsus
• Dante Alighieri
• James Parkinson
• Silvanus Bevan
• Hendrik Claudius
• Émile Coué
• Nicholas Culpeper
• John Keats
• Nostradamus
• John Parkinson
• Joseph Proust
• Nicholas Hughes
• Shen Nung
• Fanny Allen
• Tomé Pires

{{div end}}

{{Portal|Medical}}

• Alchemy
• Compounding
• Herb garden
• Herbalism
• Traditional Chinese medicine
• History of pharmacy
• Pharmacist
• Theriac
• Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
• Apothecaries' Hall of Ireland

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2838 "On Keeping Shop: A Guidebook for Preparing Orders"] is a book, in Arabic, from 1260 that extensively discusses the art of being an apothecary

{{wiktionary}}

Category:History of pharmacy

Category:Traditional healthcare occupations