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