The apothecary show globe has been associated with the pharmacy trade for centuries. Show globes originated in the British Isles but their purpose remains open to much speculation. Some believe that alchemists of the 16th century placed strangely colored liqiuds in their glass containers to lend an air of mystery and magic to attract customers.
Chapter 10. Pharmacy
"The disgrace of medicine has been that colossal system of self-deception, in obedience to which mines have been emptied of their cankering minerals, the vegetable kingdom robbed of all its noxious growths, the entrails of animals taxed for their impurities, the poison-bags of reptiles drained of their venom, and all the inconceivable abominations thus obtained thrust down the throats of human beings suffering from some fault of organization, nourishment, or vital stimulation."
— Oliver Wendell Holmes, MD
Border Lines of Knowledge in Some Provinces of Medical Science, 1861
- Strange Ingredients
- Medical Botany
- Theories of Therapy
- Self-Experimentation
- Homeopathy
- The Drug Trade
- The Apothecary Shoppe
- Put on the Brakes