Most apothecary shops consisted of several rooms, one for display and sale, one for consultations, and a laboratory. They would also have a garden of
medicinal plants located outside the shop.
In addition to medicines, apothecary shops often stocked household items such as candles, spices, tobacco and oil. They also sold common ingredients for medicines so that customers coould make their own remedies, and had catalogues showing what medicines were available.
An apothecary needed specialized equipment to compound their remedies, the most well known being the mortar and pestle, which was used to grind medicinal substances into powders. An alternative to the mortar and pestle was a levigating stone and muller. A le
vigating stone was a slab often made of marble, where medicines could be ground with the muller.
Other necessary equipment included a Gallipot, which was a small vessel used to store medicines, a tile and spatula to manipulate drugs with, a graduated pill divider, a still, and scales. An apothecary needed two scales in his shop, one large brass scale with balancing pans to measure in pounds and ounces, and a smaller "Apothecaries Scale" which measures in ounces, drams, and scruples. The still was used to distill water, spirits, and oils. It was comprised of a tub and a copper head with a swan neck. The vapors rose to the head, passing through a long spiral pipe called a worm. The vapors condensed in the worm and ran into a receiver.