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Address:
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus School of Pharmacy Museum of Pharmacy and Medicinal Plants, PO Box 365067, San Juan Puerto Rico
Opening Hours:
tues-frid 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Contact:
Ninoshka Coll
museofarmacia.rcm@upr.edu
ninoshka.coll@upr.edu
Phone: 787-758-2525 x-1070
Fax: (787) 751-5680
Additional information:
The historical collection is located in the first floor (lobby) of the Pharmacy and Students Deanships building, at the UPR Medical Sciences Campus in San Juan, PR.
The collection of living plants is located at the School of Pharmacy's Medicinal Plants Garden, a fenced piece of land at the UPR Botanical Garden, also in San Juan. It is currently closed to the public, since the construction of the pavillion has just finished, but the plan is to reopen after March 2009.
Links:
Museo de Farmacia y Plantas Medicinales
University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, School of Pharmacy
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Description:
The museum cares for two distinct collections: a collection of historical pharmaceutical artifacts, and a collection of living medicinal plants and herbarium.
The first consists of 201 different 19th century porcelain apothecary jars, each embellished with a painted reproduction of the medicinal plant it used to contain, with the name of the plant in Latin; 174 early 20th century glass apothecary bottles, labeled with the name and the majority of them still containing the raw drug, drug product, ingredient or reactive they used to contain; 11 mortars and pestles; 4 show globes; several other 19th and early 20th century pharmaceutical instruments, patented drugs, prescriptions, prescription formularies, pharmacopeias, regulatory documents, books, furniture and other memorabilia, for a total of more than 500 collection objects.
The collection of living medicinal plants consisted for many years of at aproximately 200 specimens. After being severely affected by hurracanes, changes of staff in charge and the construction of a pavillion on site, the rehabilitation of the collection of living plants is currently the focus of a collaborative agreement between the museum and the UPR Agricultural Experimentation Station of Río Piedras. The plan is to essentially restore the collection by the end of March 2009. The herbarium contains at least 630 specimens of medicinal plants collected during the fixties and sixties.
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