Browse Items (111 total)

The fixed oil of the chocolate nut, cacao butter, was used as an ingredient in cosmetic ointments. In pharmacies, it was used as a coating for pills and in the preparation of suppositories

The rod or staff of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, is often depicted as a staff with a snake. With two snakes and wings at the top of the staff, it is a caduceus, seen as a symbol of Hermes. The classic caduceus is shown at right.

Children's Hospital of Texas opened this building in 1940. The hospital--along with Bradford Memorial and Freeman Clinic--would be incorporated into Children's Medical Center in 1948.

In 1967, the Children's Medical Center Institutional predecessors consolidated their services in this new building, adjacent to Parkland Memorial Hospital and Southwestern Medical School. This proximity was due to concerted effort by academic and…

Cold cream, the white, soft, and elegant unguent, derived its odor from rose water. It was used as a pleasant cooling application to heal irritated and excoriated surfaces, particularly chapped lips and hands. From 'King's American dispensatory'…

'Conservae rosae rubrae'. 'Conservae' comes from 'concervo', meaning to preserve. The rosae rubrae was treated in much the same manner as wormwood and used to treat stomach ailments. This was a fixed matter of petals, slightly laxative and especially…

Some of the jars in the collection have these 'container details' so stylized that they are reminiscent of a 'double-headed swan' motif. Swans symbolize the fragility of life. They are also a symbol of fidelity. Whether used as a meaningful symbol,…

Tiny stylized containers are painted on some apothecary jars. Some of these containers resemble urns with handles. This may originate from the 'bowl of Hygeia', a bowl with a snake, which is sometimes used as an international symbol of pharmacy.…

This image shows some of the purely decorative embellishments popular on the 'show' jars visible in apothecary shops of the 19th century. Some of the decorative elements also use symbols linked to the history of medicine or pharmacy.

Dr. Edward H. Cary was the founder and first president of Southwestern Medical Foundation, which received a state charter in 1939 as a non-profit corporation with the purpose of perpetuating medical education and scientific research in the Southwest.…