What was an apothecary in Elizabethan times?

An apothecary was the lowest ranking medical practioner. They served not only as a pharmacist, but could actually prescribe medicines as well. A surgeon set broken bones, pulled teeth, treated wounds and skin diseases. Apothecaries often served as both surgeon and apothecary, kind of a one-stop shop!

What did a apothecary do in Colonial times?

In colonial times, a doctor was known as an apothecary. Yet these apothecaries were more than just doctors. They prescribed medical treatment and medicine, trained apprentices, performed surgery, and served as man-midwives. Apothecaries made house calls to treat patients.

What does an apothecary make?

An apothecary is a person who prepares and sells drugs and other medicines like a pharmacist. This person also preforms procedures that are supposed to help cure people who have diseases and illnesses. An apothecary would make medicines and that cure people. The medicines were made from herbs and plants.

What is an apothecary in the 1300s?

Medieval apothecaries were the equivalent of our modern pharmacists. An apothecary’s shop was full of various cures, most of which he prepared himself. He was usually a trusted member of the community, but at times, apothecaries were accused of practising magic or witchcraft.

What is a Victorian apothecary?

Early in the period, apothecaries were considered doctors as not only did they prepare medicines and. remedies for patients, but they also treated patients, dressed wounds and performed minor surgeries for a fee.

What diseases were there in Elizabethan times?

Elizabethans faced the deadly and frightening threat of bubonic plague, or the Black Death, as it was popularly known.

What did apothecaries use for medicine?

Apothecaries often used leeches to “bleed” people and chinchona bark to treat fevers. Some Apothecaries crafted their own remedies from any number of substances, herbs, animal parts, and other mixtures. Apothecaries also sold other items such as anchovies, toothbrushes, and tobacco.

What kind of things did an apothecary sell?

Apothecary shops sold ingredients and the medicines they prepared wholesale to other medical practitioners, as well as dispensing them to patients. In seventeenth century England, they also controlled the trade of tobacco which was imported as a medicine.

What did an apothecary do for a living?

Sometimes, apothecaries were also known to sell various patent medicines, or medicines of questionable use or validity. These medicines were marketed as cures for all sorts of ailments, but they seldom actually cured anything and were often little more than colored or flavored water.

What is the modern equivalent of an apothecary?

The modern equivalent of an apothecary is a pharmacist, one who takes orders for medications, decides if they are appropriate, and sells them to those who need them. Apothecaries, however, served somewhat larger roles; they often made or prepared the medicines, sold them, and gave medical advice.

What can you buy in an apothecary shop?

“Apothecary” also came to refer to the shops owned by apothecaries where medicines and other products were sold. You can think of them as precursors to modern pharmacies. You could go to them to buy prepared medicines but also spices, herbs, cosmetics, dyes, soaps, etc.

How did the apothecary shop change over time?

Over time, apothecaries gradually evolved and changed in function- both the shop and the profession. Starting in the 1700s, some apothecary shops began to be attached to hospitals and other medical places. ( 1) This was the beginning of a shift from apothecaries functioning as both doctors and pharmacists to more of a pharmacist-only role.