In colonial
days, people sought help for their illnesses from a man called an apothecary
who did some of the same things as the colonial doctor did. Just as people of
today respect and listen to a doctor’s advice, colonial people thought highly
of apothecaries.
To decide what
to do, an apothecary Read More
looked, listened, and asked questions. He prescribed medicine for smallpox, malaria, and childhood ailments. The apothecary visited sick people, and he sometimes performed bloodletting to treat illnesses. Bloodletting involved cutting into a person’s vein to drain some blood from him or applying a worm called a leech which sucked out some blood. They believed that this helped balance the patient’s body fluids. Some apothecaries delivered babies and performed simple surgeries including tooth extractions.
looked, listened, and asked questions. He prescribed medicine for smallpox, malaria, and childhood ailments. The apothecary visited sick people, and he sometimes performed bloodletting to treat illnesses. Bloodletting involved cutting into a person’s vein to drain some blood from him or applying a worm called a leech which sucked out some blood. They believed that this helped balance the patient’s body fluids. Some apothecaries delivered babies and performed simple surgeries including tooth extractions.
An
apothecary could obtain medicines in a variety of ways. He might order medicines or the ingredients to make his own from England. Sometimes he grew his own herbs or paid people to gather wild
plants. Unlike the present day drugs, the medicines of colonial days could all
be bought without a prescription.
The preparation
of medicine involved grinding dried plants with a mortar and pestle then
weighing the ingredients before mixing the medicine. An apothecary kept the
ingredients and the medicines in glass jars.
Like
today’s drugstores, an apothecary shop sold other items. One might find soap
and toothbrushes for cleanliness, candles for light as well as coffee and tea
for drinking. For the homemaker’s kitchen, an apothecary might stock cooking
spices, salad oil, and anchovies.
Most
apothecaries first served as apprentices, but some attended medical school. To learn
what to do, colonial apothecaries and doctors could buy textbooks, something
not available at the time to most other craftsmen.
References
“Apothecary.” Colonial Williamsburg.com. https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradeapo.cfm
Cohen, Jennie. “A Brief History of Bloodletting.” May 30,
2012. http://www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bloodletting
“Colonial Life.” Facts4me.com. http://facts4me.com/topics.php?t=113
Lawall, Millicent
R. “Apothecary Shops of Colonial Times.” Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
March 1936. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jps.3080250317/abstract
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