506 



PHARMACY PHEASANT. 



skill, and his knowledge (if plants, and several pre- 

 parations which he invented, are known to us ; ns, 

 tor instance, an ointment of white lead or ceruse, 

 &c. Mithridi'tes. king of Pontus (12362 B. C.), 

 invented an antidote, composed of fifty-four ingre- 

 dients. Heras, of Cappadocia, wrote a work on phar- 

 macy at Rome (B. C. 4). Musa, the celebrated 

 physician to Augustus, prescribed several medicinal 

 preparations, which afterwards continued in use 

 under his name. A large collection of compound 

 medicines is enumerated in the works of Scribonius 

 Largus (A. D. 43). Menecrates, physician to Tib- 

 erius, was the inventor of the diachylon, or litharge 

 plaster. Damocrates (A. D. 47) invented and de- 

 scribed in verse, the preparation of several medicines, 

 tooth-powder, ointments, &c. Philo of Tarsus (A. 

 D. 23) discovered a sedative composed of opium, 

 saffron and other ingredients, and called, from him, 

 philonium. ^Esclepiades Pharmacion (in the time 

 of Trajan, A. D. 97) prepared several celebrated 

 medicines. Dioscorides, who probably flourished in 

 the reign of Nero (A. D. 34), is yet distinguished for 

 his knowledge of the properties of plants, and first 

 exposed the fraudulent practices made use of in the 

 composition of several medicines, and prescribed the 

 preparation of some new ones ; as, for instance, of 

 ceruse, calamine, flowers of zinc (nihil album), &c. 

 Pliny the Elder (79) also rendered important services 

 to pharmacy by his researches into natural history. 

 In Galen's time (160 200) several physicians in 

 Rome employed themselves in the preparation of 

 cosmetics. When, with the decline of the Roman 

 empire, science and learning became extinct in 

 Western Europe, superstition and blind empiricism 

 prevailed in the medical department, and pharmacy 

 made no progress. But, in the East, particularly 

 in Alexandria, where art and science continued to 

 flourish, chemistry and pharmacy were cultivated 

 with ardour by the Arabians. They studied the 

 works of the Greek writers, and from them we de- 

 rive many important improvements in the pharma- 

 ceutic art. The caliph Almansor (754) founded in 

 Bagdad the first public apotheca, or druggist's shop. 

 The names of several medicines, such as alcohol, 

 julep, &c., are of Arabian origin, and it is most pro- 

 bable that we owe to them the first official dispen- 

 satories, or pharmacopoeias. Sabor Ebn Sahel, about 

 the middle of the ninth century, published a pharma- 

 copoeia ; ami, in the twelfth century, Abul Hassan, 

 physician to the caliph of Bagdad, published a 

 similar work, which subsequently served as the 

 standard work of the Arabian apothecaries. The 

 Arabian apothecas were under the particular direc- 

 tion of the government, and were subjected to a 

 strict supervision, particularly in regard to the 

 quality and price of drugs. It is related of AfFhin, 

 an Arabian general, that he examined in person the 

 medicine chest of his army, to see if every thing 

 mentioned in the dispensatories was provided. With 

 the revival of medical science in the West arose the 

 celebrated school of Salerno. The apothecary's 

 trade was now (in the thirteenth century) regulated 

 by law, and apothecaries and grocers were obliged 

 to sell their articles at fixed prices. Apothecas, or 

 apothecaries' halls, could be established only in cer- 

 tain places, and two men of standing were appoint- 

 ed in the large towns to superintend them. The 

 most important medicines were compounded under 

 their inspection, and frauds were severely punished. 

 There is a work by Saladin of Ascoli, physician to 

 the grand constable of Naples, in the fifteenth cen- 

 tury, which, besides other curious materials relating 

 to the state of the apothecaries' trade at that period, 

 contains a list of the books which an apothecary 

 ought to have, with moral precepts and directions 



for each month. The principal pharmaceutical 

 work of the middle ages was the Antidotarium of 

 Nicholas Prapositus of Salrrnum, which was cele- 

 brated as early as the twelfth century. In France, 

 the apothecaries' halls were first subjected to the 

 upervision of the medical faculty in the fifteenth 

 century. In Germany, the apothecaries were mere- 

 ly dealers in drugs, which they imported from Italy. 

 The physicians also prepared their own prescriptions. 

 In most cities, the apothecaries were likewise con- 

 fectioners, and the magistrates, in their contracts 

 with them, stipulated for a certain quantity of con- 

 fectionary, to be delivered in the city hall. The 

 reforms of Paracelsus in medicine (sixteenth century) 

 introduced some changes into pharmacy. Many 

 chemical preparations were adopted, and the use of 

 mineral specifics, as, for example, antimony and 

 mercury, became more common. Still the operations 

 were conducted without reference to scientific prin- 

 ciples ; but, since the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, the natural sciences have continued to make 

 great progress, and pharmacy, as well as medicine, 

 has experienced the effects of the improvement. In 

 pharmaceutical operations, the apothecaries' weight is 

 used, in which twenty grains make a scruple, three 

 scruples a drachm, eight drachms an ounce, and 

 twelve ounces a pound. The following abbreviations 

 and signs are used by physicians, in writing their 

 prescriptions : 



ft. 



z 

 5- 



5. 

 3. 



Gr. 



C. 

 O. 



f.f. 



f. 3. 



pound, 

 ounce, 

 drachm, 

 scruple, 

 grain. 



(congiuni) gallon 

 (octans) pint, 

 fluid ounce, 

 fluid drachm. 



Yf^. minim. 



Gut. (gutta) drop. 



Cochl. (cochleare] spoonful. 



Cochl. maj. (cochleare mqjtts) table-spoon. 



Cochl. min. (cochleare minus) tea-spoon. 



Manip. (manipulus) handful. 



j. i. one. 



ss. half. 



aa or ana. of each. 



q. s. (quantum sufficif) as much as necessary. 



p. e. . equal parts. 



PHARO ; a game. See Faro. 



PHARO of Messina. See Faro of Messina. 



PHAROS ; sometimes used, in English, for light- 

 house : in some other lauguages, it is the ordinary 

 term for these edifices. The name is derived from 

 the island of Pharos before Alexandria, which pro- 

 tected the port of that city. On the eastern pro- 

 montory of the island stood the lighthouse of Alex- 

 andria, so famous in antiquity, and considered one 

 of the wonders of the world, built 300 years B. C. 

 It is said to have been 500 feet high. See Light- 

 house. 



PHARSALIA ; the plains in the neighbourhood 

 of Pharsalus, a town of Thessaly, where Caesar de- 

 feated Pompey B. C .48. See Caesar and Lucan. 



PHASES, in astronomy, denote the various ap- 

 pearances of the moon, and the superior planets, at 

 different ages ; also the appearance of the moon or 

 sun when eclipsed. Metaphorically, the word is 

 used by historians, to designate various stages and 

 appearances of one great historical event, for ex- 

 ample, a revolution. 



PHEASANT (phasianus). The genus phasianus 

 includes not only the pheasants proper, but also the 



