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The development of Pharmacy as a science depended upon a more exact knowledge of plant constituents and a deeper knowledge of the biological sciences. Pharmacy was not established until the middle of the 19th century when the developing chemical industry was placing new materials at the disposal of physicians. Still in the 1950's prescriptions were traditionally written in Latin in a form of shorthand well understood by physicians and pharmacists.

First published in 1906 as the Pharmacy students Pocket book, the above edition has been thoroughly revised and the whole material has been entirely re-written.

The first book published after the formation of the NHS when things were finalised after the war and after the change over from Latin to English titles.
The book contained sections on :
The Science and Art of Pharmacy
Abbreviations used in Prescriptions
Weights and Measures
Food & Diet
Poisoning
Veterinary medicine
Venereal Disease
The Cancer Act 1939 and the Shops Act 1950
Plus many other interesting sections

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Examples

Shops Act 1950

Seats for Female Assistants
The employer must provide one seat for every three female assistants and permit their use whenever it does not interfere with their work

Employment of young persons
No person between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age may be employed in or about the business of the shop for more than 48 hours a week excluding meal times.

Assistants Weekly Half Holiday
Every shop assistant must be free from 1.30 p.m. onwards on one half day in each week even though the shop remains open for exempted articles.

CANCER ACT 1939
Advertisements making certain claims or offers to persons suffering from Cancer are prohibited

Penalties - First conviction £50 subsequent conviction fine of £100 or up to 3 years imprisonment

VENEREAL DISEASES ACT 1917
Advertisements are controlled so that no preparation or substance may be offered as a medicine for the prevention or cure of these diseases.

Penalties - Imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and a fine not exceeding £100

THE SALE OF ABORTIFACIENTS
Where the slightest suspicion exists that any drug or article is being bought for the purpose of abortion the seller should refuse to supply. The fact that the woman may not be with child is no defence and transactions even though through third parties must be regarded with the same care.
Contravention of the law is an offence of the utmost gravity and the penalties are severe.

Alltogether a very intersting volume on illness and health and the law on pharmaceutical practices recommended in the 1950's.

In the late 1800's despite improvements in healthcare , death rates remained relatively steady. Roughly one quarter of all children died in the first year at the end of Victoria's reign as at the beginning, and maternal mortality showed no decline. In some fields, however, survival rates improved and mortality statistics slowly declined; thus crude death rates fell from 21.6 per thousand in 1841 to 14.6 in 1901. Here, the main factors were public hygiene and better nutrition thanks to higher earnings--that is, prevention rather than cure. Although doctors made much of their medicines with Latin names and measured doses, effective remedies were few, and chemical pharmacology as it is known now only began at the end of the Victorian era. From the 1870s (animal) thyroid extract was used for various complaints including constipation and depression, while from 1889 animal testicular extracts were deployed in pursuit of rejuvenation and miracle cures. At the same date aspirin was developed to replace traditional opiate painkillers.

As a result, many conditions remained chronic or incurable. These limitations, together with the relatively high cost of medical attendance, led to the rise (or extension) of alternative therapies including homeopathy, naturopathy ('herbal remedies'), hydropathy (water cures), mesmerism (hypnotism) and galvanism (electric therapy) as well as blatant fraudulence through the promotion of useless pills, powders and coloured liquids. From 1866 notions that disease was caused and cured by mental or spiritual power alone were circulated by the Christian Science movement.

Rudolph Steiner

The end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century was a time when all of the sciences were developing rapidly and Rudolf Steiner was determined that they should be based on spiritual, as opposed to material, truths. This led him to be instrumental in the founding of Weleda, the company that promotes and produces Homeopathic and Herbal medicines; to laying the groundwork for Biodynamic agriculture - which was the forerunner to the modern Organic movement in central Europe; to being involved in many curative and therapeutic enterprises and to taking part in a wide range of other scientific and artistic activities. He was a prolific writer and lecturer and became a major figure in the German-speaking world of that time.

BETWEEN TWO CAMPS

I was brought up 'between two camps' as my mother was brought up in the Bird/Goldsmith philosophy and my father was a Pharmacist and staunch red meat eater. I am told that Harry Bird and Dorothy refused to attend my parents wedding as Harry was so against the union, however they do say opposites attract and the marriage lasted nearly 60 years.
I remember as a child on holiday wandering the hedgrows with Harry picking berries and herbs for his concoctions and being stung by nettles as we collected handfulls for soup, only the tops he would tell me as they were the most tender. When my cousins and I were ill we would lie in a darkened room and have cold flannels filled with mint put on our foreheads to bring down our temperatures. Even though Irving Slome was a conventional doctor he was called upon to make the diagnosis on his trips from London.
At home things were different, we lived above and behind the Pharmacy and were almost 'fed' drugs at the slightest sign of a cough, cold or rash always without seeing a doctor. Father would read up all the latest drug reviews in the Pharmaceutical Journal and prescribe accordingly! It was a nightmare when we went on holiday. Mother was made to pack a suitcase full of medications for every eventuality that we might pick up in those foreign lands and take it on the plane as hand baggage! We often had to take things 'just in case'. Looking back I'm sure it didn't do us any good at all and has made Alastair very wary about taking anything at all today putting his life in jeopardy.
I wish I had had the courage to discuss with mother what her real philosophy was about it all, it would have been good to hear her feelings on the merits of both sides, each one staunch in their beliefs and it seems not able to come to terms with either camp. What a dilemma!
Janice

All the 'Bird' babies were born at home and most of the Childs too, all the deliveries supervised by Gertrude whilst she was alive. There was one major tragedy that affected all the family for most of their lives.

Heaven knows what my grandmother would think of BSE, iradiated food, intensive factory farming, antibiotics fed to animals in their feed, unlabelled so that farmers have no idea what they are feeding them unless they grow their animal feed themselves. We wonder what she would have thought about two of her grand/greatgrandchildren being diabetic, their life saving insulin having been tested on dogs, as she was a committed anti-vivisectionist.

Gertrude used to buy myrrh at the chemists, a dark brown powder I don't know what it was used for, she used to burn incense sticks in her bedroom, but this might have been to do with Theosophy. Maurice took valerian daily towards the end of his life which was worrying.
Our family went form herbs to drugs during our life time, a big drama in our family's experience.
Thalia


Maurice used to go to an osteopath once a week. He was called Dr Minifie
and lived near Babbacombe, a house set on its own on the downs. I remember
sitting in the car whilst he had his treatment, It was to help with a back
problem . He always said he hurt his back when young with friends in a
sudden start in a sports car. I was told Dr Minifie was from Canada and was
so disillusioned with the medical profession he had set up on his own as an
osteopath. I always wondered why Dad never got better ....the treatment went
on for years. Mum and Dad dabbled on the fringes of this type of alternative medicine.
Our parents had heroes - Naturopaths usually handsome, we went
to their lectures in big houses and hotels... Stephen Ward came to speak at
the Queens Hotel in Torquay.

Norman used to stay in bed for a whole week with 'pains in the head'. It was wondered by his brothers and sisters whether this was 'genetic' as other members of the family had the same trouble.
In the late 1970's we used to visit Norman in his bungalow when we had a house in Devon. He had been diagnosed with heart problems and the doctor had told him to eat meat and prescribed him prescription drugs. He refused to take these and was forever taking homeopathic tablets and remedies. He drank loads of Bovril diluted in hot water throughout the day, supposedly because he could not face chewing meat. Our father always told him it was doing him no good as it was full of salt, but he persisted and sadly died in 1982 of Ischaemic Heart Disease. Alastair.

"Bovril drink was invented in 1886 by Scotsman John Lawson Johnston and was originally formulated to feed Napoleon’s troops on the Russian front. By 1888 over 3000 bars and public houses were serving Bovril in Britain and ‘beef tea’ became a popular drink amongst football fans during the early 20th century. By 1994 enough Bovril ‘beef tea’ was being sold to make over 90million mugs. To this day, Bovril drink remains popular with the family, with over 3million jars being sold – or 900 tons of the beef tea per year! "

When Harry was dying at Widecombe he had severe chest pains and although he didn't believe in conventional medicine he was in so much pain he allowed Dorothy to call out the doctor who injected him with Morphine, this eased things for a few hours but the pain came back even more excrucating than before. The doctor was called again and injected him with a lethal dose of Morphine, ironically he died of the effects of chemicals that he had not believed in all his life.

Gertrude and Norman could have both lived another 20 years with the sensible use of modern drugs. Norman refused to take the medication for his heart problems that were prescribed by the doctor. Gertrude used to ask Thalia her granddaaughter to dispose of her drugs in the pot under her bed after she had hidden them in her cheeks until the doctor and everyone had gone. Maurice and Lillian must have called the doctor in after she had her stroke. Thalia was aware of the family predjudices and that drugs would prolong her life but it was impossible not to comply with her wishes, she loved her so much. As children her brother and sisters were not part of the discussions and were not allowed to attend her funeral which left an empty hole which remains to this day.
When Gertrude went into a Home she was given ECT without the family being informed or giving their permission. The whole family was absolutely horrified.

I think we were brought up to despise illness ...it was quite cruel...the idea was if you ate properly and did exercise you would be well and glowing with health, (a bit of truth in that) Thalia

It seems quite a few of us were barred from attending our relative's funerals over the years, it has happened again quite recently, is it a Bird, Childs 'thing'...............Janice

Lillian was passionate about the NHS, Maurice a tendency later in life when it became desparate to use the private sector she was disgusted at this. Even though they really did not believe in doctors.
Maurice campaigned against irradiated food and other public issues writing to his MP and MEP. Just before he died he made a donation to the hospice and there was a letter from his solicitor saying how much he would miss Maurice and their long discussions about putting the world to rights.
They loved the moors.Thalia went to lectures with them on the history,botany etc of Dartmoor.

The best way to learn about your family history is to ask questions. Talk at family gatherings and record your family's health information—it could make a difference in your child's life.

Collecting your family's medical history can be important for your child's health. You might not realize that your father's diabetes or your cousin's cystic fibrosis could affect your child.

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