The word 'apothecary' is derived from apotheca, meaning a place where wine, spices and herbs were stored. During the thirteenth
century it came into use in this country to describe a person who kept a stock
of these commodities, which he sold from his shop or street stall. By the mid-sixteenth century apothecaries had become the equivalent of today's
community pharmacists, dealing mainly with the preparation and sale of substances
for medicinal purposes. Authority over medical practice, however, lay with the
College of Physicians. From 1672 until 1922, the Society of Apothecaries manufactured and sold medicinal
and pharmaceutical products at the Hall, and in 1673 it founded the Chelsea Physic
Garden, only relinquishing managerial control in 1899.
The Apothecaries' Physic Garden at Chelsea was founded as an educational enterprise;
it was also established in conjunction with the possession of the Society's first
ceremonial barge. In July 1673 the Society took the lease on three-and-a-half acres of land on
the riverfront at Chelsea and proceeded to build a bargehouse and cultivate a
physic garden where, for well over two centuries, Apothecaries' apprentices and,
later, medical students, were taught Botany and Materia Medica.
The word Physic means the art or skill of healing. As a species name, the word 'officinale' denotes a plant that was traditionally sold in apothecary shops and was considered to have medicinal or healthful properties. Many plants in the apothecary or physic garden were grown for cooking, healing, dyeing wool and fabric and 'strewing', or scattering over the floor for their perfume. Pennyroyal and Lady's Bedstraw kept fleas at bay. Traditionally apothecary or physic gardens grouped the plants according to their healing or soothing properties.
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| Hemerocallis flava with sweet cicely, rue, hop, thalictrum and lemon balm |
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| Purple Sage, periwinkle (Vinca minor) and catmint (Nepeta x faassenii) |
From the 'Primitive Physic' by John Wesley (one of the founders of Methodism)
ReplyDeleteTo cure a cold in the head - Pare very thin the yellow rind of an orange, roll it up inside out and thrust a roll into each nostril.
To cure baldness - Rub the part morning and evening with onions until it is red and rub it afterwards with honey.
With thanks to Epworth Old Rectory (home of the Wesleys) http://www.epwortholdrectory.org.uk/index.php