A R T I C L E Pharmacy in Serbia: Th e life and work of a distinguished pharmacist, Velimir Karić (1859-1946)

Th is article describes the transition of pharmacy in Serbia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen-turies, by examining the life and work of the pharmacist Velimir Karić. He was the owner of the fi rst pharmacy in southern Serbia when a concession-based system operated for the opening of new pharmacies. With restrictions on pharmacy openings, confl ict developed between pharmacists holding masters degrees and those who had passed the licence examination. Concessions were originally awarded by a general Chamber of Commerce, but the Serbian Pharmaceutical Society pressed successfully for a separate pharmacy Chamber. Diffi culties in maintaining drug supplies at times of war led to the creation of a Pharmacy Buying Consortium. Central to all these developments was Velimir Karić, who as well as being president of the Serbian Pharmaceutical Society was a national deputy and a philanthropist. Abstract Th e period of resumed British colonial rule in Hong Kong from 1945 until 1984 – when the decision was taken to return sovereignty to China – presented both challenges and opportunities for pharmacy. Th e challenges included a rapidly expanding population, infectious diseases, a rise in drug addiction, and the impact of regional confl icts such as the Korean War. In response, the role of pharmacists became more important in controlling the supply of antibiotics, dangerous drugs and poisons. Changes were made to pharmaceutical legislation; a Pharmacy Board was created, becom-ing the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in 1969. A Pharmacopoeia Ordinance in 1958 resulted in the adoption of the British Pharmacopoeia in Hong Kong. Th is article illustrates how western pharmacy in Hong Kong adapt-ed to the social, economic and political circumstances in which it found itself. Abstract Th e dosage form of tablets was invented by the British artist William Brockedon (1787-1854). He intended to produce dosage forms containing a minimum of excip-ients. Without any experimental proof, it was assumed that ‘compressed pills’ would disintegrate rapidly. First investigations into the disintegration of tablets were done by Silas Burroughs (1846-1895), co-founder of the Burroughs, Wellcome company. He and many succes-sors revealed that tablet disintegration was – contrary to the initial assumption – a critical step for therapeutic success. However, various pharmacopoeial test methods developed slowly from 1907 onwards and remained rather primitive, until the United States Pharmacopoeia XIV in 1950 presented the fi rst detailed test procedure. In the early 1960s, the introduction of physico-chemi-cal knowledge, dating back to 1897, into pharmaceutical sciences led to dissolution testing as a central tool in modern biopharmaceutical considerations. Abstract Consecrated earth or stone powder associated with churches dedicated to medieval saints, often of local signifi cance, has particular importance in certain areas of Belgium and the Netherlands. Sources of supply range from the walls and other parts of the fabric of the church and earth from pilgrimage sites, to specially blessed ordinary building sand. Th e material has been – and often still is – employed in various ways by believers to increase agricultural success, to improve yield in animal husbandry, to preserve the health of live-stock, to discourage vermin, and as a prophylactic and medicinal therapy for a range of conditions, often determined by special association with the saint in question.