Apothecary is an obsolete term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern pharmacist (in American English) or chemist (in British English) has taken over this role and in some languages and regions the word is still used to refer to a retail pharmacy or a pharmacist who owns one. The apothecaries' investigation of herbal and chemical ingredients was a precursor to the modern sciences of chemistry and pharmacology.