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Chapter Two Life in Hernani Antonio de Anza and Lucia Sasoeta Dijo el dho Anto de Anssa que se alla exsaminado de Voticario con intento de poner publica Votica, empleandolas en cossas necessas para ello dhos ochenta ducados y que desde aora para quando llevarse efecto lo referido hipoteca de los votes, drogas, y demas adherente a dha Votica. En la noble y leal Villa de Hernani a Veinte y siete dias del mes de Mayo del ano de mill y seissos y ochenta y nuebe—Antonio de Anssa (rúbrica) . . . First, the said Antonio de Anza says that he has been examined as a druggist with the intent of establishing a public pharmacy and will spend the said eighty ducats on things necessary for the same, and that from henceforth, the said mortgage of the canisters , drugs, and other things pertaining to the said pharmacy shall be in effect. In the noble and loyal village of Hernani on the twenty-seventh day of the month of May in the year 1689—Antonio de Anssa (rubric).1 Saturday, January 3, 1693, probably dawned chilly and overcast. Like every Saturday morning in Hernani, the streets were jammed with oxcarts and pack-laden donkeys bringing supplies and produce for sale, both in the open market on the plaza and to the stores lining Kale Nagusia and Kale Kardaberaz . The light that did manage to filter down past the tall buildings lining both sides of the narrow streets was dim indeed. As the cold mist changed into a slight drizzle, people scurried to complete their business and get back inside by their warm fires. Lucia Sasoeta, a slight woman of thirty-five years,2 bundled against the cold with her shawl tightly pulled close around her face, hurried back from the open market on the plaza with a small cloth bag that carried a few items of merchandise. She opened the door on one of the north-facing houses about halfway down Kale Nagusia and disappeared inside. The dark, age-blackened stone of the front of the three-story building gave little indication of what lay through its door. To the casual passerby there was no difference between this building and the many others that lined both sides of the street. For the few people who could read, there was a small, painted, wooden sign on the door advertising the proprietor’s business. It stated simply, “Antonio de Anssa, 19 20 Juan Bautista de Anza Boticario.” A glance through the window that faced the street presented a view of walls lined with shelves, bins, and hoppers. On the shelves were what seemed to be hundreds of small metal canisters and glass and ceramic bottles and boxes. Again, if one could read, there was writing on the containers. As one passed through the outside door to enter the large front room, a strong but pleasant odor of herbs met the senses. A closer look at the labels on the containers on the shelves revealed such exotic names as piedra alumbre rudo (coarse rock alum), bejuquillo (root of the Brazillian plant ipecacuanha), trosisco de mirra (myrrh lozenges), goma de limón (lemon gum), infusión de rosas alejandrina (Alexandrian rose tea), and serpentaria virginiana (Virginia snake root). There was theriacta magna, or syriac from opium, used for tertian fever; mirabolano sitrinos, a lemon-colored, prunelike, dried astringent fruit from India, used as a cathartic; alquen quenges, or Barbados winter cherry, used as a diuretic; and tormentilla, or septfoil, a slender, trailing, Old World herb, the root of which was a powerful astringent used for diarrhea. Less exotic, but still part of the inventory on the shelves, were such things as conserva de rosas rubias (dried red rose), hunguento de plomo (lead ointment), tartaro emético (emetic tarter), and agua de flor de sauco (elder flower water). Toward the back of the room was a heavy oak table on which were positioned a number of tools of the trade. There was a large brass mortar with its iron pestle. Beside it sat a small glass mortar and pestle, alongside of which was a medium-sized rock mortar that also had an iron pestle. Next to it was a heavy copper distilling flask, a box of candles, a small balance scale, and a box of measuring spoons and other devices. On the back wall of the room hung a cupboard with a number of leatherbound books and several stacks of paper.3 Seated at a table beside...

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