Stained glass window of the Pharmaceutical Society’s Coat of Arms, around 1900

Description

This beautiful stained and painted glass window shows the Pharmaceutical Society’s coat of arms, crest and motto, granted in 1844.
In general the choice of devices and supporters reflects the 1840s chemists and druggists’ keen regard for the historical and international roots of their profession.

The Society’s Arms show:
• In the first quarter, a dove bearing an olive branch, the traditional Biblical emblem of peace.
• In the second, an aloe plant, representing the use of plants in medicine.
• In the third, the medical symbol of a snake-entwined staff.
• In the fourth, an alembic and receiver, an early apparatus for distillation.
• At the centre of the cross is a pair of scales, representing measures and standards.
• Above the cross is a stag, possibly signify the animal content of medicines in the 1800s.
• Over the arms is the crest, with a mortar and pestle, the traditional sign of the apothecary/pharmacist.

Fact

After obtaining its Royal Charter in 1843, the next step for the Society was to apply to the College of Arms for an arms for use on a common seal to be appended to its official documents.
The Society’s Coat of Arms – consisting of a shield, crest, motto, and supporters – was granted in March 1844.

The supporters of the arms are Ibn-Sīnā on the left, and Galen on the right, two of the most important figures in the history of medicine.
• Galen (Anglicised form of Galenus) was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Born in Pergamum (Bergama, now in Turkey) in 129 A.D., he lived until about 216 A.D. He continues to be revered as a ‘father of medicine’.
• Ibn-Sīnā (Latinised to Avicenna) lived in Persia from 980-1037 A.D. His extensive writings included a ‘Canon of Medicine’. Translated into Latin as early as the 1100s, Avicenna’s ‘Canon’ was published in Venice in 1527. It was subsequently translated into Hebrew and a variety of European languages.