Ox gull - FEL TAURI

Ox gull or Bilis bovina - FEL TAURI in apothecary terms- was used ever since Antiquity in the treatment of eye, stomach and intestine problems, of hemorrhoids, but was also part of numerous mixed medicines.

Three apothecary jars for bull’s bile are exhibited part of the "Animals that heal" temporary exhibition at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca, part of the National History Museum of Transylvania:

§    white ceramic jar with the signature EXTR. FELL. TAURI in Latin and Hungarian, dated 1815 and used in the Matei Corvin Pharmacy in Cluj. The signature is placed in an oval cartouche with golden border

§ white ceramic jar inscribed EXTR. FEL TAURI from the beginning of the 19^th century, Timiş, manufactured in Batiz. The signature is placed in a shield-shaped cartouche with green border, surmounted by a painted decoration consisting of two branches and a central bow

§       glass jar with paper label with the depiction of bulls, beginning of the 20^th c., Unicorn Pharmacy in Cluj, partially effaced print and French writing

Apothecary jars for ox-gall

Apothecary uses of goat's blood

Domestic goat (Capra aegagrus hircus) blood – SANGUIS HIRCI - was used since Antiquity against dysentery and dropsy (water retention due to cardiac failure), while the Arabs recommended it against calculi (stones as pathological products of different human organs). It was also included in the Transylvanian Materia Medica, as the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca includes a 19^th-c. wooden jar with the signature SANGUIS HIRC. The container was once used in the Bononi pharmacy from Recaş, Timiş County. 

The ingredient is but one of the numerous medicines obtained from animals and insects presented in the temporary exhibition "Animale vindecatoare" Animals that Heal - January-June 2017 at the History of Pharmacy Collection, Unirii Square no. 28.

Detail of animal blood vial in the Animals that heal exhibition

Wooden apothecary jar inscribed "Sangv: hirc:"

Animals that heal exhibition

The official poster is now ready!

Animals that heal is the next temporary exhibition at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca. Visitors will be able to explore the curious history of animal ingredients used in the apothecary shops of old between January 2nd and June 30th 2017.
Recommended for both adults and kids in the location of the oldest pharmacy in town, in Unirii Square 28.

Animals that heal

"Animals that heal" (Animale vindecatoare) is the title of the new temporary exhibition in the making at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca. The exhibition will open in the first days of January 2017 and will be on display for six month, in the center of Cluj, in Unirii Square no. 28.

Rather numerous medieval and early modern apothecary ingredients were obtained from animals and insects. The eighteenth-century written sources from Transylvania, pharmacy inventories, pharmacopoeias, apothecary taxes (lists of ingredients and prices), mention 80 such ingredients, much more than in the era’s Austrian pharmacopoieas for example. Some were exotic, obtained from sperm whales, civet cats, cuttlefish etc., while others were local, obtained from common European species (such as the so-called Spanish fly, bear, deer, pig and others). The ingredients include various organs, secretions or even pathological “products” from the body of the various species of animals, such as the bezoars.

The exhibition shall tell the tale of these less usual medicines and illustrate it with various jars for such ingredients and also historical samples of some of them.

Stay tuned! 

Gilded pills - an apothecary tradition

Covering pills in gold and silver was practiced in Europe between the 17th and 20th century, erroneously attributed to Avicenna. The procedure was meant to make pills easier to swallow, coating their bad taste/smell and preventing them from disintegrating. Though Avicenna did talk about the properties of precious metals, in cauterizing, heart and lungs afflictions and bad breath, the first mention of pill gilding dates from 1626.

The procedure included the following steps: producing hard pills, coating them in syrup of Gum Arabic, placing them together with gold leaf inside a scatula deauratoria (two hemispheres made of wood or horn) and shaking well.

The History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca includes several jars for Gum Arabic, a natural gum made of the hardened sap of various species of the acacia tree. One such jar, made of wood during the eighteenth century and used in an apothecary shop from Târgu Mureş is exhibited in the "Gold and gems" temporary exhibition that can be visited until the end of this year.

 

18th c apothecary jar with painted cartouche and the signature PULV G: ARAB

Gum Arabic pieces and powder, by Simon A. Eugster - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.orgb/w/index.php?curid=48712562

Modern pills, gilded pills and gold leaf in the "Gold and gems" temporary exhibition in Cluj-Napoca

 

Precious red coral

Corallium rubrum, or precious red coral, was used both as old apothecary ingredient but also in jewelry. Pharmacists used it as calcium supplement and cure against rachitism, but also as ingredient in several composite medicines, such as the anti-epileptic powders. Due to its preciousness, it is among the few organic materials included in the category of gems. Red coral thus features in the new temporary exhibition entitled "Gold and gems" that opens tomorrow, September 1st, at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca.

19th c wooden apothecary jar for red coral

19th century ceramic jar for red coral

natural red coral

The History of Poison

The new temporary exhibition at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj focuses on the history of poison and of the side effects of drugs. It will be open between May 28th and August 27th in Unirii Square no. 28.
It presents the types of "venena" sold in pharmacies (most often drugs containing arsenic and mercury), the way in which possibly dangerous drugs were stored and sold, and historical episodes of failed treatments in Transylvania.

Prepairing a new exhibition

This is one of the times I enjoy my work. A new temporary exhibition will be opened in the end of this month at the History of Pharmacy Collection, so I am doing  research on a new topic - the history of poison - along the following questions: what is the connection between pharmacists and poisons? how could cures become poisons? how were poisonous drugs kept and sold in Transylvanian apothecaries? At the same time I am selecting the artifacts to be displayed and preparing the visual materials for the poster. Here are, for now, some of the latter: