From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
Apothecary (pronounced
"ah-poth-i-kerry") is a historical
name for a
medical practitioner who
formulates and dispenses
materia medica to
physicians,
surgeons and
patients — a role now served
by a
pharmacist.
In addition to pharmacy the
apothecary also offered general
medical advice and a range of
services that are now performed
solely by other specialist
practitioners, such as surgery and
midwifery. Apothecaries often
operated through a retail shop,
which in addition to ingredients
for medicines, would also sell
tobacco and
patent medicines.
In its investigation of
herbal and chemical
ingredients, the work of the
apothecary may be regarded as a
precursor of the modern sciences
of
chemistry and
pharmacology, prior to the
formulation of the
scientific method.
From the 15th century the
apothecary gained the status of a
skilled practitioner, but by the
end of the
19th century the medical
professions had taken on their
current institutional form, with
defined roles for doctors and
surgeons, and the role of the
apothecary was more narrowly
conceived as that of dispensing
pharmacist.
In England, the apothecaries
merited their own
livery company, the
Worshipful Society of Apothecaries,
founded in
1617.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
became the first woman to gain a
medical qualification in Britain
when she passed the Society's
examination in
1865.
Apothecaries used the now
obsolete
apothecaries' measure to
provide precise weighing of small
quantities.
