Contents of the pharmacy (Mr Lennox’s, the chemist…)[]
Remember this, many props were picked out and used because "they just looked interesting", not because they had a particular symbolic meaning. Also, set dresser Sue Crowther gets much of the credit for the items we see in many scenes. (Seamus Flannery. See his chapter in John Walsh's book.)
First from the movie, then below that what’s described in the novel.
FROM WHAT I SEE IN THE MOVIE:
-a bottle labeled “Guaiac”[]
From Dictionary.com: Also called guaiacum gum, gum guaiac. a greenish-brown resin obtained from the guaiacum tree, especially from Guaiacum officinale, used in varnishes, as a food preservative, and in medicine in various tests for the presence of blood.
(Note that it comes from trees. Trees also play a role as so many of the children have tree names. Trees in Celtic mythology. See this Celtic Tree Zodiac.)
- perfume (Anyone recognize the brand?)[]
- foreskins[]
(According to the book, “if ritually burnt, they bring the rain.” says Lennox.)
- dimethylglyoxime (chemical name CHON, can't read the subscript numbers)[]
I am no chemist but looking on the internet, this seems to be used to detect nickel in other substances.
- bottle of …”urry”[]
Unknown
- bottle of …”syr:”[]
Unknown
(next shot)
- rat brains[]
- some sort of small furry rodent (anyone from the UK recognize it?)[]
- snake oil embrocation[]
Snake oil was actually sold under that name. An embrocation is a liquid used for rubbing on the body to relieve pain from sprains and strains. (Wikipedia).
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Snake_oil
- some mounted lizards[]
- some large meaty thing in a bottle (a bull's testicle?)[]
- a bottle marked brains[]
- some sort of long reddish object in a bottle (an animal penis of some kind?) w/ an red Dymo label that says: Asc…, Ga…, ?, ?.[]
- I am not sure what is in the next bottle - it looks like a beetle perhaps and some sort of foot which would be an unlikely combination in one bottle.[]
- hearts[]
- fetal (pigs?)[]
(next shot)
(The 3 preserved items with black labels above the fetal pics in this shot are what we just saw c/u.)
Behind the chemist's head to the right is a small ram's head mounted on the wall.
Also behind his head and mostly obscured except for when he is speechless to Howie’s question, is what appears to be a mummified bat? Something very shriveled and dark.
3 lizards hang from the ceiling…
In the shot where the chemist gives back the picture of Rowan we see something hanging from the ceiling towards the front of the shop. I would like to think it is a piñata but that would be completely out of place and it looks more like a scruffy log with a few things hanging off of it. Does anyone have any idea what that could be? There is also a stuffed owl on a counter visible briefly below the upper window.
FROM THE NOVEL (pg 79):
“Inside the shop, the shelves and counters were full of jars containing bizarre objects like
leeches…”[]
Commonly used in medicine even today.
“and fillets of snake,…”[]
Used in Shakespeare… "Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble - fillet of fennel, snake, toad, adder's fork, lizard's leg..."
“omen sticks,”[]
(from The Christian Reformer, Or, New Evangelical Miscellany, Volume 15, Sherwood, Neely and Jones, 1829) …”Ezek. xxxvii. 1620. Illustrative of this passage I would observe, that this was the ancient mode of writing as used by the Celtic bards. The letters of their alphabet consisted solely of straight lines and angles branching from them; and their laws and maxims were invariably committed to verse. When they resolved to commit any of these to writing, they took a number of sticks, and made them either trilateral or four square, according to the number of lines in their verses. They then, with a knife or some sharp instrument, cut the letters upon the planed sides of the stick, which they named Coelbren, or the omen stick. These sticks were then joined in a frame, and so arranged that when one line was read, the stick could be turned so as to present another square until the whole was perused. The frame, with its sticks, was named Peithynen or the elucidator, a description of which may be seen in Frys Pantographia, p. 307, and upon the medals struck by the Cymmrodorion Society in London, from a design of the late celebrated artist Flaxman.”
“and strips of “witches mummy,” []
looking exactly like what it was. desiccated corpse flesh.”
(Used in Shakespeare’s Macbeth) (From this blog: http://genius.com/1975770/William-shakespeare-macbeth-act-4-scene-1/Witches-mummy-maw-and-gulf) used as a remedy for physical dysfunctions, including gout and epilepsy. In some cases, mummies were actually manufactured from dead carcasses.
foreskins[]
“On the counter nearest Howie when he entered was a glass container of foreskins, slightly bloodstained and packed tight together. Like everything else it was clearly labelled.”
Other material[]
A cardboard ad showing a bottle of Midnight cologne is seen on the counter.
Above the darkroom door we see:[]
- Polaroid the swinger (blue box)
- mini viewer (in red)
- Ilford Iifolite flash gun
- Kodak pocket Instamatic 100 (film? box, not cassettes)
Inside the darkroom[]
That is a Scottish Field calendar for the month of May 1973 on the wall.