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Palm Trees and Potions: On Portuguese Pharmacy Signs
- schoen 10y agoLisbon has a very amazing and elaborate pharmacy museum at the headquarters of their own pharmaceutical society. http://www.museudafarmacia.pt/ http://www.museudafarmacia.pt/ It would be interesting to get their take on this topic (not to suggest that this author's interpretation is in any way mistaken).
- benbreen 10y agoAuthor here (and original poster). That's a great idea. I'm going to write them to see what they think about the origin of the symbol, and will update the post if they respond. I've always loved the location of that museum by the way - not only beautifully situated facing the water, but also across from a park frequented by sellers of hashish (at least it was when I lived in Lisbon back in 2012). The big iron fence dividing the licit drug museum from the people selling illicit drugs right in front of it has since become my favorite metaphor for the history of drugs.
- fimdomeio 10y agoAhah indeed. Briliant. passing through that street will never be the same to me again.
- psykpsyk 10y agosorry to brake it to you, but those guys are scammers who try to sell people, especially tourists, not hashish but "louro prensado"(1), compacted bay leafs. (1) https://www.google.com/search?&q=louro+prensado https://www.google.com/search?&q=louro+prensado
- agumonkey 10y agoThere is a recent reddit thread about late 60s usa anti drug efforts, with some history about the status of drugs in the decades before it. Interesting.
- sevensven 10y agoYou can try to ask it to this professor, he will probably know the answer or will be interested and find it. His email is on the web page: http://www.museus.ulisboa.pt/en/jpsdias http://www.museus.ulisboa.pt/en/jpsdias
- caiob 10y agoGreat read. Portugal has such an interesting history.
- lazyant 10y agoIn many countries the symbol for pharmacists is a snake over a mortar http://www.colfar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=110 http://www.colfar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=arti...
- paol 10y agoInteresting, that page attributes use of the snake and palm tree to both Portugal and France.
- spqr0a1 10y agoI wonder if there's any connection to the snake on a staff widely used as a symbol of medicine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius It which case its origin may be a representation of the treatment for guinea worm.
- dghughes 10y agoI find it odd medical organizations in the USA use the symbol of the caduceus not the Rod of Asclepius I wonder how that came about. I've read the caduceus is supposedly an ancient symbol or at least in some way connected to prostitution. A bit of a faux pas to choose such a symbol!
- pjmlp 10y agoNice read, specially as Portuguese. Thanks for the article.