The word _Apothecary_ originally signified any proprietor, or keeper of store, magazine, or warehouse, (απο τίθημι, _to put off_.) See _Glossarium Manuale_, _vol._ 1. p. 298. From the word _Apotheca_, the Italians have made _Boteca_, and the French _Boutique_. It would therefore be a great error to consider the term _Apothecarius_, as it is met with in the writings of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, as denoting a character similar to the Apothecary of the present day. As we learn from the writings of Hippocrates, Theophrastus, Galen, and other authors, that the Greek and Roman Physicians prepared their own medicines, it is evident that in those times the office of the Apothecary was quite unnecessary; the medicinal herbs were purchased of dealers, who after a time very naturally professed a knowledge of the medical properties of the articles which they sold, and accordingly began to deal in compound remedies, and to boast of various nostrums; such were the PIGMENTARII, SEPLASIARII, PHARMACOPOLÆ, and MEDICAMENTARII, of whom we read in ancient authors. That the Pigmentarii dealt in medicines is proved by the law which established a punishment for such as sold poison, to any person, through mistake, viz. “_Alio Senatus consulto effectum est, ut PIGMENTARII, si cui temere Cicutam, Salamandram, Aconitum —— —— —— et id quod lustramenti causa dederint Cantharidas pœna teneantur hujus legis._” Digest. Lib. xlviii. Tit. 8.33. These Seplasiarii appear to have latterly assumed the office of Apothecary, for Pliny (Lib. xxxiv. c. 11.) reproaches the Physicians for not making up their own medicines instead of trusting to these persons. That the PHARMACOPOLÆ carried on the same trade appears evident from their name; but no one seems to have placed any confidence in them; on the contrary, they were despised for their impudent boasting, and the extravagant praise which they bestowed upon their commodities. Μειμειταὶ που καὶ φαρμακοπωλης ἰατρον. “_Pharmacopola imitatur Medicum, Sophista Philosophum, Sycophanta Oratorem._” (_Maximus Tyrius, Dissert. x._ p. 121.) and again, “_Itaque auditis, non auscultatis, tanquam Pharmacopolam; nam ejus verba audiuntur, verum ei se nemo committit, si æger est._” (_Cato in Aulum Gellium_, _Lib._ 1. _c._ 15.) From these words it appears that the _Pharmacopolæ_, even in those days, attempted to practise Physic. Dr. Mohsen, quoting from Anderson (_Geschichte des Handels_ ii. p. 365.) says, that king Edward III. in the year 1345, gave a pension of Sixpence per diem, to one Coursus de Gangeland, an Apothecary in London, _for taking care of, and attending his Majesty, during his illness in Scotland_, and this is the first mention of an Apothecary in the Fœdera. The first legal establishment, however, of such a class as Apothecaries, may be dated from the well known Medicine Edict (see _Lindenbrogii Codex Legum Antiquarum_.