The History of the Society of Apothecaries. By C. K.
B. Barrett, M.A. (Elliot Stock. £1 ls. net.)—The "apothecary" of Eliza- bethan literature was a tolerated practitioner, not conforming to the highest standards of the medical art, but practically indis- pensable. In 1606 James I. gave the Apothecaries a charter by which they were united with the Grocers. In 1617 this union was dissolved, and the Society as it exists now was called into separate existence. But its members had not the functions which they now exercise. They did not prescribe, but dispensed. In fact, they were the chemists and druggists of to-day. The battle for the right to prescribe was fought out in the seventeenth and ; eighteenth centuries. Here we have the substance of what the public is generally interested in. There is much, however, that the student of social history will find valuable. Mr. Barrett has collected with care and industry a vast amount of noteworthy detail, and has arranged it conveniently in this handsome volume.
Previous page
