748 
Pharmacy  in  the  Russian  Army. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
v   November,  19 19. 
PHARMACY  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  ARMY.1 
Not  the  least  interesting  of  many  and  varied  experiences  of 
pharmacy  in  war  on  many  fronts  has  been  work  in  Russia,  where 
elements  of  old  Imperial  army  were  operating,  side  by  side,  with 
British  units.  During  the  dim  days  of  an  Arctic  winter  one  has 
somewhat  exceptional  opportunities  of  studying  the  details  of  the 
pharmaceutical  service  of  another  army.  The  close  relations  re- 
cently existing  between  the  medical  service  of  the  British  and  the 
Russian  (pro-Ally)  forces  was  nothing  new,  as  the  British  medical 
profession  has  always  been  highly  esteemed  in  Russia. 
Historical. 
So  far  back  as  the  sixteenth  century,  and  especially  during  the 
reign  of  Ivan  the  Terrible,  English  apothecaries  were  employed  at 
the  Imperial  Court  and  held  important  positions  among  the  Russian 
noblemen  and  statesmen.  Queen  Elizabeth  was  responsible  for 
sending  out  the  best  known  of  these  pioneers — James  Roberts,  who 
is  still  remembered  under  the  name  of  "Jakobi."  Waliszewski 
refers  to  this  invasion  of  Russia  by  British  doctors  in  his  "Life  of 
Ivan  the  Terrible5'  (translated  by  Lady  Mary  Lloyd).  He  says 
that  "  The  whole  of  these  foreign  apothecaries  could  not  have  in- 
duced any  native-born  Russian  to  swallow  a  pill  or  accept  any  simi- 
lar remedy.  The  moment  a  Muscovite  felt  out  of  sorts  he  drank 
a  glass  of  vodka,  seasoned  with  pepper  or  garlic,  ate  a  slice  of 
lemon,  and  took  a  clyster.  This  was  his  treatment  for  every  com- 
plaint." Notwithstanding  this,  British  medical  men  established 
themselves  very  successfully  in  Russia  at  this  period  and  played  an 
important  part  in  its  medical  and  pharmaceutical  history  during 
three  centuries.  The  physicians  and  apothecaries  retained  by  noble 
families  were  held  in  high  honor  and  richly  paid  for  their  services. 
When  they  succeeded  in  effecting  cures,  estates,  serfs,  horses,  and 
furs  were  bestowed  on  them  with  truly  Oriental  munificence.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  state  dignitary  with  the 
title  of  Apothecary  boyar  was  created,  and,  with  the  advent  to 
power  of  the  Romanoffs,  the  Tsar  Michael  instituted  a  pharma- 
ceutical council.  This  council  was  an  influential  body,  and  appears 
to  have  controlled  the  practice  not  only  of  pharmacy  but  medicine 
1  Reprinted  from  The  Chemist  and  Druggist,  September  27,  1919. 
