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1491, An apothecary using a pestle and mortar to extract tyriac from snake flesh while the snakes are eating birds and their eggs. Tyriac is used to treat poisonous bites. Woodcut from Jacob Meydenbach?s Hortus Sanitatis (Garden of Health) (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1491, An apothecary using a pestle and mortar to extract tyriac from snake flesh while the snakes are eating birds and their eggs. Tyriac is used to treat poisonous bites. Woodcut from Jacob Meydenbach?s Hortus Sanitatis (Garden of Health) (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)