At
the Pasteur and Galt Apothecary various medicinal and pharmaceutical
remedies were kept in delft drug jars. Period medicines included
Peruvian bark for fever, chalk troches for heartburn, and juniper
berries as a diuretic. Although Dr. Pasteur worked from this shop, he
was not the famous French doctor who proved germ theory in the
nineteenth century.
Each
shop had a sign that indicated its purpose. Here the mortar and
pestle display the tools for grinding herbs into powders. The snake
wrapped around the pole is the caduceus, a sign still used for
medicine today.
Some
of the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg, such as the Sign of the
Rhinoceros, are used as residences for the staff who work there
year-round. This shop was also an apothecary since the rhinoceros
horn was believed to have medical properties. Rhinoceros horn is
still used as a medicine in some parts of the world today, which has
led to the endangered status of some rhino species.