Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 18-19. (Budapest, 2000)
Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts - Guide to the Exhibition
four years later to twelwe months at the University of Nagyszombat (today Trnava in Slovakia). On the big modern shelve in the next room, pharmaceutical remembrances from the 17th and 18th century are presented. The coloured map in the middle left shows those pharmacies of Hungary, that had been founded before 1750 and were still in service in the late 19th century. Note the poor health supply of the middle region, the Alföld, in contrast to the northern parts. This difference was still due to the Turkish occupation, though this had been put down by the late 17th century. The apothecary jars around the map present an outline of the history of European pharmaceutical faience ceramics. This was predominated by Italian earthenwares too, so the pharmaceutical jars you find here arc mostly from various Italian cities. Starting on the left side of the map the two albarclli are from Pesaro, (North Italy), as well as the two armorial jars above them. The globular jar at the top left is from Trapani, Sicily (early 17th c.). Turning to the right, the albarello on the right of the next string of jars, is also from Pesaro (early 17th c.), as well as the next armorial jar (c. 1750) in the middle. The small albarello on the left of it is from Northern Italy (middle 17th c.), whereas the other smaller one on the right was made in Savona, Liguria (early 17th c.). The big ovoid jar, with the portrait of a young man, was made in Venice (late 16th c.). Below, at the right in the next string, there is a jar from Talavera dela Reina, Old Castilia (late 17th c.). On the top of the next column there arc three glass bottles from the 17th c. Out of these three albarclli, the left one was made in Spain (late 17th c.), the next two, are both decorated with the double headed crowned eagles, which were the stylized court of arms of the Habsburg family. In the next row below, the biggest jar in the middle is another Italian albarello, which was made in Caltagirone, Sicily (early 17th c.). On the right there is a short footed drug pot, painted in blue, with the black inscription; this one was manufactured in Savona, Liguria (18th c.). The string of glass jars bellow the map, and also the wooden pharmaceutical jars on the right, are Hungarian makes from the 18th c. The three small hand-scales on the right were made in Austria and in Hungary. Some of them has the Austrian certification signs from the 18th century at the bottom of the platters. Each pieces of the set of weights (middle 19th c.), placed on the right of the shelve has the official Austrian measurement units on the tops as well; i.e. 1 Austrian pound = 24 la s, which is equal to 420 gramms, or 0,926 lb. The left series, that have cylinder shapes, were measurement units for dry products. On the floor you can see Hungarian laboratory instruments: flats, retorts, a distillery cap, and a vessel for mineral water. An interesting one is a small, plungingsiphon with a handle, which is regarded to be the forerunner of pipette or dropping tube. The balance, right to the shelve, that has the pyramid shape was used at the Helping Marry Pharmacy (Mosonmagyaróvár , founded in 1690). As you can sec, there are drawers on each of its side beneath the arms, as well as in the middle, designed for storing the weights. The two copper platters with their handles arc movable. 46
