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EVERYDAY LIFE. EXCAVATIONS OF SOME OF MANKIND'S OLDEST
SETTLEMENTS SUPPORT THE CONTENTION THAT PREHISTORIC PEOPLES
GATHERED PLANTS FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES.
THE MAGICAL POTIONS FOR CURING WERE PART OF THE DUTY OF THE
SHAMAN. HE OR SHE DIAGNOSED AND TREATED MOST SERIOUS OR
CHRONIC (LONG LASTING) ILLNESSES AFFECTING THE SETTLEMENT.
THE SHAMAN COMPOUNDED THE REMEDIES NEEDED AS THEY
DISCOVERED BY TRIAL AND ERROR WHICH ROOTS, PLANTS OR HERBS
WORKED ON A PARTICULAR CONDITION.
EVEN THOUGH EARLY PEOPLES DISCOVERED ONLY A SMALL NUMBER
OF EFFECTIVE DRUGS, THE VERY CONCEPT OF INFLUENCING BODILY
FUNCTIONS VIA OUTSIDE FORCES MUST BE CONSIDERED ONE OF
HUMANITY'S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS.
GREEK AND ROMAN EMPIRES, HUMANITY'S KNOWLEDGE OF
MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY.
BY THE MID-13TH CENTURY, PUBLIC PHARMACIES HAD BECOME
RELATIVELY COMMON IN SOUTHERN EUROPE.
FROM THE MID 1600'S TO THE MID 1800'S, HUGE ADVANCES IN
"CHEMICAL PHARMACY" WERE MADE, DISPLACING
MANY MEDICINAL PLANTS AS REMEDIES.
PHARMACIES OR "APOTHECARIES" BEGAN TO APPEAR IN THE
COLONIES. MOST COMPOUNDING OF MEDICINES WAS BEING DONE BY
PHYSICIANS UNTIL THE EARLY 1800'S WHEN HOSPITALS IN LARGER
CITIES BEGAN TO REQUIRE A SPECIFIC "PHARMACEUTICAL
PRACTITIONER" BE AVAILABLE FOR THE COMPOUNDING OF PHYSICIAN
ORDERS FOR MEDICINES; THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN PHARMACIST.
BE OF FIRST CONSIDERATION; HE SHOULD RENDER TO EACH PATIENT THE
FULL MEASURE OF HIS ABILITY AS AN ESSENTIAL HEALTH PRACTITIONER".
THIS STATEMENT FROM THE CODE OF ETHICS OF THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION DATES BACK TO
1969; IT REFLECTS THE NEED OF THE MODERN PHARMACIST TO REMAIN AN IMPORTANT PART OF A PATIENTS
HEALTHCARE STRATEGY. IT ALSO FAILS TO CONSIDER THE ROLE OF FEMALES IN THE PROFESSION; A NOT TOO
UNCOMMON OCCURRENCE FOR THAT ERA.
JEAN FRANCOIS PILATRE de ROZIER, A PHARMACIST FROM METZ, FRANCE, BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH JOSEPH AND
ETIENNE MONTGOLFIER- EXPERIMENTERS WITH HOT AIR BALLOONS.
ROZIER CONVINCED KING LOUIS XVI TO ALLOW HIM TO BE THE FIRST HUMAN TO VENTURE INTO THE EARTH'S
ATMOSPHERE. ON OCTOBER 15, 1783, ROZIER BECAME THE FIRST KNOWN HUMAN TO EXPERIENCE AERIAL FLIGHT.
ON JUNE 15, 1785, HE DIED IN A HYDROGEN BALLOON ACCIDENT.
OOOPS.
THE SYMBOL "Rx" IS ACTUALLY A CORRUPTION OF THE ANCIENT SYMBOL FOR THE ROMAN GOD JUPITER, WHOSE
BLESSING WAS INVOKED UPON EVERY PRESCRIPTION TO ENSURE ITS PURITY.
THE SYMBOL HAS ALSO COME TO MEAN "RECIPE" FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH PRESCRIPTIONS ORIGINALLY WERE
COMPOUNDED FROM MANY DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS.
* IN 1888, PHARMACIST JOHN S. PEMBERTON DEVELOPED "ESTEEMED BRAIN TOXIC and INTELLECTUAL
BEVERAGE", WHICH CONTAINED CAFFEINE, "SECRET" INGREDIENTS, AND COCAINE.
MODIFIED FOR TODAY'S TASTES (AND LAWS), THE PRODUCT IS NOW KNOWN AS "COCA-COLA".
* THE POPULAR BEVERAGE 7-UP WAS ORIGINALLY A VERSION OF A "LITHIATED" PATENT MEDICINE, CONTAINING
SMALL AMOUNTS OF LITHIUM. FOR YOU FANS OF IRONY, LITHIUM CAN BE USED TO TREAT AMONG OTHER
PROBLEMS, DEPRESSION. WHEN WAS 7-UP FIRST INTRODUCED? DURING THE EARLY 1930'S-
THE ERA OF THE "GREAT DEPRESSION".
* CHARLES ALDERTON, A TEXAS PHARMACIST, CREATED A SOFT DRINK AND NAMED IT AFTER HIS PROSPECTIVE
FATHER-IN-LAW, DR. CHARLES KENNETH PEPPER. THE DOCTOR WAS UNIMPRESSED, SO ALDERTON DROPPED THE
PERIOD AFTER THE ABBREVIATION FOR DOCTOR
AND MADE HIS FORTUNE WITH "DR PEPPER".
* JAMES VERNOR, A PHARMACIST FROM DETROIT, RETURNED FROM DUTY IN THE CIVIL WAR TO DISCOVER HIS
MEDICINAL GINGER TONIC HAD AGED QUITE NICELY IN HIS OAK BARRELS.
SUCH WAS THE BIRTH OF VERNOR'S "GINGER ALE".
* CALEB BRADHAM, A PHARMACIST FROM NEW BERN, NC, CREATED A CARBONATED BEVERAGE, NAMED BRAD'S
DRINK, TO SELL TO FOUNTAIN CUSTOMERS IN HIS PHARMACY. HE DEEMED HIS DRINK "EXHILARATING,
INVIGORATING AND AIDS DIGESTION".
IN 1898 BRAD'S DRINK WAS RENAMED "PEPSI-COLA".
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM.
