the history of pharmacy explained at the Albarelle museum, in Orsay

The establishment dedicated to the history of pharmacy and medicine reopens its doors. After its move to Essonne, visitors can rediscover this collection of more than 500 objects. A journey through remedies, from Antiquity to the Age of Enlightenment.

Monster ball, meat juice press… more than 500 artifacts trace the history of pharmacy, medicine and health at the Albarelle Museum. Created in 1992 in Châtenay-Malabry, the site opened a new setting last December by integrating the Henri Moissan building in Orsay. The educational itinerary offers the opportunity to discover 3,000 years of history of care around the world.

A journey that begins with ancient Egypt. An era marked by the proximity between religion and medicine. The rites accompany the lists of remedies to ensure a promise of healing. “Prayers should be recited when preparing the remedy and when administering it. At that time, it was the priests who practiced the art of healing“, explains Professor Éric Fouassier.

It was not until centuries later that these healers became apothecaries. Drug preparers of all kinds who don’t hesitate to decorate their shops with strange objects. Among them, stuffed exotic animals. In the popular thinking of that time, bad moods were the cause of illness. The body is said to be governed by the four elements: water, fire, air and earth. To regulate them, enemas and bloodletting are required.

Methods subsequently abandoned thanks to the work of precursors. Like Ambroise Paré, considered the father of modern surgery. The Age of Enlightenment was marked by several pharmaceutical discoveries thanks to advances in chemistry.

“What will tip the apothecary towards modern pharmacy is Lavoisier’s chemical revolution. Apothecaries will have the knowledge to look for active ingredients in plants.s”, adds Éric Fouassier. Other discoveries will follow, such as that of quinine to treat malaria, thanks to Joseph Pelletier, in 1820.

The 19th century was also conducive to cures, fortifiers and unusual utensils in pharmacies. Like this strange meat juice press, popularized by the work of Justus von Liebig. The machine made it possible to obtain broths with supposed anti-anemic properties. Other originalities can be discovered during the visit, such as the monster balls. Large glass bottles, filled with colored water, which were placed in pharmacies. They gave patients the impression of having a better complexion when leaving the store, thanks to the reflections of light.

Albarelle Museum – History of medicine, pharmacy and health, 17 avenue des Sciences, 91400 Orsay, free access on Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., guided tour by reservation.