Oldest pharmacy becomes museum
The shelves in a room at the National Archives, in Rabat, are lined with old bottles of different shapes and sizes, many filled with coloured powder.
Most of the labels are faded, the names of the medicines inside rendered faint by the years. Among them is a bottle of Phenazone, which was used as a painkiller before aspirin was invented. There is also picric acid, a poisonous chemical.
The bottles are sharing the space with apothecary equip-ment, dating to a time when medicines were not easily manufactured but prepared by the pharmacist.
The recently-restored room once housed the oldest pharmacy in Malta, dating back to the late 16th century, the era of the knights, when it was part of the Santo Spirito Hospital. However, for the past two decades it was used as a store.
When Michael Bonnici retired from his job as a pharmacy technician, he decided to take over the small room.
"I enjoy carpentry and did the restoration works," the 65-year-old former MP said. He dug out his father's pharmacy logs and decades-old equipment, includ-ing a pill machine, which is sharing the shelf with a suppository mould and a cachets machine that used to turn bad-tasting powders into pills, coated with something sweet that would disguise the taste.
"This was before people would go to the pharmacist with a prescription and he could reach behind him and get a box of pills," Mr Bonnici said.
The pharmacist had to use different pieces of equipment to make the pills, weighing them with centigram weights, which are also exhibited in the pharmacy.
Mr Bonnici is appealing to other pharmacists who have old equipment or medicines to donate them to the National Archives.
Although the pharmacy is not open to the public since it is within the National Archives, Mr Bonnici said exceptions would be made for University students studying pharmacy who wanted to study the history of pharmacy.
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19 Comments
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Karl Consiglio
Feb 6th 2010, 22:47
Yes, but is it art?
Joe Xuereb
Feb 6th 2010, 22:30
@Abou-Hussein. Can we leave god out of this? Please.
A gem of a museum in Ephesus, Turkiey, my favourite 'muslim' country, also has exhibits of fine surgical instruments, made and used god only knows how many centuries before Paul was writing his letters to the Ephesians, Corinthians and the Maltese, presumably, etc.(don't we count for anything?). And he was quickly and unceremoniously dispatched on his way soon thereafter. All this - the finely-tuned, if rudimentary-looking, battered-looking surgical intruments, I mean - when monotheism as we now know it was unheard of.
Pule' Carmel
Feb 6th 2010, 10:34
Last Sunday my wife and I went over to Mount Carmel Hospital which housed a bird show for the day, and to my surprise I found myself in a hall containing a Historical Museum in which there were many pieces of equipment used in the hospital. There were surgical equipment and lumbar puncture needles which I recognised well, as I spent many years maintaining the surgical equipment at St Luke hospital. There were dresses and attire which were used on the patients, safety beds, sewing machines, and I was surprised to see a birth chair! I enjoyed seeing tools, for the old kitchen and cutting board, cleaning the halls, and also tools that tradesmen use to support the hospital. There were carpenter’s tools, blacksmith tools and also instruments for electricians including a 500 volts hand operated megger which I used when I was at the Royal Navy. There was a cart wheel and some photographs.
I remember that there was some historic surgical equipment at St Luke in the Board room cabinets. It is encouraging to see all this but my heart aches a lot, not to see a Science and Technology Museum in Malta. We have so much toshow.
Melvyn Mifsud LLD
Feb 5th 2010, 22:44
Man is always a product of his own history - being moulded and influenced by those who lived before him and thier practices.
Our greatest asset and natural resource is the human personnel and we can bost of many eminent people in the medical field. The latter have fared and compared very well with their counterparts.
During the older days the chemist was a more unsunf hero - and the Maltese public held l-Ispizjar in the greates of esteem. In fact I dare say tht to certain extent, people would on occassions double check any advice given by the doctor.
Well done to iMchael Bonnici and one and all involved in the restoration work and the conservation of pharmacy practices. ichael
mario aquilina
Feb 5th 2010, 22:28
How about a museum in strait street,maybe we can tempt some old british tourists to come back for a visit to remember the good old days.
Max Farrugia
Feb 5th 2010, 12:20
Whilst congratulating Michael Bonnici for the good work he did at Santo Spirito ex-Pharmacy, Hope that his appeal to donate any goods which are in private house in connection with this practice will be heard. I also appeal to other members of Parliament to follow this good national cause and help to save our heitage and get involved in similar projecs with any local entity.
Max Farrugia
Friends of the National Archives
Maria D. Spiteri
Feb 5th 2010, 08:46
Well done Michael. You are a thrue gentelman who always wants to give to others what you have.
Charles J. Farrugia
Feb 5th 2010, 08:02
Reference is made to a number of comments about whether the research pharmacy should be open to the public or not. I would like to clarify a bit the message which the article gave which might have meant that this excellent initiative will not be open to the public. This is not the case. The point is that as the National Archives is not a museum but an archives, the type of access we will give is not on the same lines of museums. There are already plans in collaboration with Mr Michael Bonnici to have organised tours. Anyone interested is to contact the National Archives on [email protected] indicating his/her wish and the necessary arrangements will be made. The scope of the National Archives to preserve teh collective memory of the Maltese public for the public and I can assure anyone that the scope of this initiative is also in line with our mission to cater for the needs of teh Public.
Charles J. Farrugia
National Archivist
Simon Delicata
Feb 4th 2010, 20:24
A job well done! Keep up the good work.
A. Calleja
Feb 4th 2010, 19:19
Well done Michael!!
Last time I've met Michael a couple of weeks ago, he was very excited about this project! I agree with the other comments here... this exhibition should definitely be open to the public!
We hope that this exhibition expands more to show our country's rich medical and pharmaceutical heritage.... For all persons interested in this subject... apart from this exhibition... I suggest also the Psychiatry Museum housed at Mt Carmel Hospital.
CARMEL SERRACINO-INGLOTT
Feb 4th 2010, 18:58
A grateful well done
Carmel
Alfie Palmier
Feb 4th 2010, 18:10
Well done! I would like to thank you for this initiative. As a pharmacist I feel proud of the history surrounding our profession and it is exciting to have a place to display all these artifacts. We should try and make it available to the community, exhibiting it to the public.
Keep it up :)
Frank Portelli 2BFRANK
Feb 4th 2010, 16:19
Well done Michael
Frank Portelli
Samir Abou-Hussein
Feb 4th 2010, 16:09
Proset! another nice thing which shows the distinct great heritage of Malta. I think such great thing will be worth to be seen by many people who will be either interested in heritage of Malta or specifically interested in pharmaceutical history of Malta. It is fair enough to give this broad range of people to see such great hertage! this can be against a fee and with close supervision! God bless you all!
b briffa
Feb 4th 2010, 15:11
One should condemn the fact that its not open to the public.
Jesmond Micallef
Feb 4th 2010, 14:43
And yet another GEM of Maltese history brought to light !! Very well done, and a heartfelt THANK YOU to Mr.Michael Bonnici. This is indeed education, too !!!
With my very best wishes.
MSciberras
Feb 4th 2010, 13:46
PROSIT MICHAEL BONNICI.
The room should be open to the public on specific days for pre-booked tours, for a fee. Prosit once again
Laurence Zerafa
Feb 4th 2010, 13:00
Well done and thank you Mr. Bonnici for preserving another part of our rich heritage. Your appeal to long established pharmacies to donate old compounding and dispensing equipment, pharmacy jars and medicines, too is a good idea.
Ways should be found how interested individuals, besides pharmacy students, can visit this museum. Some tourists, including pharmacy / medical conference tourists, too could be interested to visit, if they knew about it.
J.Tonna
Feb 4th 2010, 12:41
Well done Mike and whoever helped him.
In my opinion this should be open to the public, at least when in a group on a guided tour.
Please choose the reason of your report below: