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Toulouse-Lautrec Museum (Albi, France)
H.T-L
Its Upper Floors
Christ Arising in ChapelMedicines, Woad , Dyestuffs and Back Again
In the 15-16C , the vast majority of people were illiterate and so signs on shops were illustrative of the trade housed within. Making powders was a major part of medical compounding, hence the mortar and pestle repeatedly displayed on the ancient pharmacy sign. The pharma(cist)s also were adept at drying plants, extracting their essences and making solutions from powders. The expansion of scale was a challenge that was also rewarding. All of this was within the scope of "understanding" the 4 elements of matter: earth, air, water and fire. The procedures derived from them to release the essences from the matter. A "Materia medica" was the guide to the essences and their preparation so that a physician could treat illness. Thus a "pharma" was familiar with the processing of woad to produce indigo and could become rich. Ironically in the 19C, after the advent of the scientific-industrial revolution, the understanding of the chemistry of coal-tar, in Germany , led to the synthesis of aniline and a vigorous synthetic dye industry. This led to the discovery of the first synthetic therapeutic agent, Aspirin (by Fabriken Bayer). Most of the early pharmaceutical giants were in the dye business. Reality stumbles after history.
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