THE APOTHECARY.

TftE office of Apothecary is to attend on sick persons, and to prepare and to give them medicines, either on his own judgment, or according to the prescription of the Physician.

It is well known that the word Apothecary signified originally any kind of store, magazine, or warehouse ; and that the proprietor or keeper of such a store was called Apothecarius. We must not, therefore, understand by the word, when mentioned in writings two or three hundred years old, Apothecaries such as ours are at present. At those periods, persons were often called Apothecaries who, at court, and in the houses of great people, prepared for the table various preserves, particularly fruit incrusted with sugar, and who, on that account, maybe considered as confectioners. Hence, perhaps, we see the reason why Apothecaries were in this country combined with the grocers till the reign of James the First. They were then separated, and the Apothecaries were incorporated as a company : the reason assigned for this was, that medicines might be better prepared, and that unwholesome remedies might not be imposed on the sick. From this period, Apothecaries were distinguished for selling drugs, used in medicine, and preparing from them different compounds according to the prescriptions given by physiciarft and others. Prior to this, it is probable, Physicians usually prepared thefr own medicines ; and it has been thought that they gradually became accustomed to employ Apothecaries for the sake of their own convenience, when they found, in their neighbourhood, a druggist in whose skill they could confide, and whose interest they wished to promote, by resigning in his favour that part of the occupation.

Such an employment as that of an Apothecary is, however, mentioned at a much earlier period of our history ; for it is said, that King Edward the Third gave a pension of sixpence a day to Coursus de Gangeland, an Apothecary in London, for taking care of and attending his majesty during his illness in Scotland ; and this is the first mention of an Apothecary.

In the year 1712 the importance of this profession was acknowledged by an Act of Parliament, which.exempted, for a limited time,
Apothecaries from serving the offices of constable, scavenger, and other ward and parish offices, and from serving upon juries ; which act was, a few years afterwards, made perpetual. The Apothecaries, as a body, have a hall near Bridge Street, Blackfriars, where there are two magnificent laboratories, out of which all the surgeons are supplied with medicines for the British Navy. Here also, drugs of all sorts are sold to the public, which may be depended upon as pure and unadulterated, They are obliged to make up their medicines according to the formulas prescribed in the Dispensary of the Royal College of Physicians, and are liable to have their shops visited by censors of the College, who are employed to destroy such medicines as they think not good. But as almost all persons who practise in this profession are men of liberal education, and acquainted with the theory and practice of chemistry,
there are very few of them who do not prepare their own drags, either wholly or in part.

In many places, and particularly in opulent cities, the first Apothecaries' shops were established at the public expense, and belonged in fact to the magistrates. A particular garden also was often appropriated to the use of the Apothecary, in order that he might rear in it the necessary plants, and which was therefore called the Apothecaries' garden.

In conformity to this principle Sir Hans Sloane, in the year 1721, presented the Apothecaries' company with a spacious piece of ground at Chelsea, for a physic-garden, on condition of their paying the small ground-rent of 5l. per .annum ; of continuing it always as a physic-garden, and of presenting to the Royal Society fifty samples of different sorts of plants grown there, till they amounted to two thousand. The latter of these conditions has been long since more than completed.

In this garden there are too very magnificent cedars, which were planted in 1683, and were then about three feet high. The pine tree,
the coffee tree, the tea-shrub, and sugar-cane, are amongst the curiosities which may be seen at this place.

This is a very genteel business ; a youth intended to be an Apothecary should be a good scholar, at least he should know as much Latin as to be able to read the best writers in the various sciences connected with medicine. Indeed, the late Act of Parliament renders it more necessary than ever for a person to be well acquainted not only with the classics, bat with Botany, the Materia Medica, Chemistry, Anatomy, and the outlines of Medicine : for by that Act, passed in 1815, a Court of Examiners is appointed by the Apothecaries' Company to examine into the qualification of every person applynng for a certificate to practise as an Apothecary in England and Wales : for which certificate, when obtained, 10l. 10s. are to be paid for every Apothecary practisingin London or within ten miles of it and for a certificate to practise in the country, 6l. 6s. are to be paid. Even assistants to Apothecaries must now undergo examination. The price of a certificate for an Apothecary's assistant is 2l. 2s.— The penalty of practising without a certificate is 20l. — Assistants' penalty 5l.

There is also a numerous class of medical men in London, and various parts of England and Wales, called Surgeon and Apothecary to which is commonly added the designation of Man-midwife ; and to such persons, in the country more especially, are the lives and
health of by far the greater part of the community intrusted, by those whose finances will not enable them to consult a regular Physician. These of course must undergo an examination not only at Apothecaries' Hall, but at the College of Surgeons.

Allpersons applying for a certificate to practice as an Apothecary, must produce testimonials of having served at least five years Apprenticeship to an Apothecary; and, in general, five years are the usual number for which Apprentices are bound. The premium is very various : sometimes two hundred guineas have been given. — An assistant or journeyman to an Apothecary will sometimes have from forty to eighty pounds per annum, or more, exclusive of his board ; but in general the salaries are much lower, often not exceeding twenty-five. The principal expense in establishing a young man as an Apothecary is his education, certificate, &c. His whole stock in trade, exclusive of books, does not often exceed the value of one hundred pounds.

In China they have a singular mode of dispensing their medicines. In the public squares of their cities, there is a very high stone pillar,
on which are engraven the names of all sorts of medicines, with the price of each ; and when the poor stand in need of such assistance, they go to the treasury, where they receive the price each medicine is rated at.