The development of chemistry added complexity to the preparation of the recipe and there was need for greater precision in the description of the techniques.

In his comment on Schröder’s Farmacopea medico-chimica, Michael Ettmüller (1644-1683) added a chapter on the preparation of the recipes, de formulis medicamentorum praescribendis (digital copy). At first, the use of the medicament should be defined and next there is the formula, first describing the ingredients and then the type of preparation "formulae ratio habenda" (p. 198), for example, emulsion, decoction, etc. For the ingredients, the utmost attention must be paid to the order in which they are compounded, the species of the simple (not an easy task before Linnaeus’ nomenclature system), the proportion of the ingredients, distinguishing the origin, the "juvantia et corrigentia" (additives), the "dirigentia", which direct the active ingredient to the ailing part, and the "conservantia" (p. 297). Finally, the doses are specified, calibrated on the age of the patient, their state of health and the severity of the disease.

Giuseppe Donzelli (1596-1670) Neapolitan nobleman, physician and historian published Teatro farmaceutico, dogmatico, e spagirico in 1667. The Library of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences of the University of Padova holds the 1737 edition. The work is a kind of informative re-edition, for use by pharmacists, of the Neapolitan Antidotarium, that the author wrote in 1642, commissioned by the medical authorities of the Kingdom of Naples. It was widely read. The book begins with a description of the chemical techniques for pharmacy: solution, maceration, putrification, fermentation, circulation, extraction, distillation, cohobation, rectification, filtration (sic!), decantation, coagulation, calcination, amalgamation, precipitation, stratification, fumigation, reverberation, clisso. For use by pharmacists, as a preface, Donzelli mentions the tools (vessels), weights (see the section in the exhibition about Doses and measures) and abbreviations used for chemical elements. Following that, there is an alphabetical list of medicinal simples and their derivatives. The techniques are explained in detail, with step-by-step instructions, with which instruments and timing. The recipes are listed alphabetically according to the type of preparation: aromatic, balm, conserve, electuary, emulsion, essence, extract, fomentation, gargle, julep, laudanum, liqueur, lotion, magisterio, oil, ointment, oxymel, pills, powder, potion, poultice, quintessence, salt, syrup, spirit, tincture, troches, vinegar, water, wine. At the end of each recipe are listed "Characteristics, and Use". Different versions of the recipe are included, sometimes comparing them with first-hand experiences or from stories and anecdotes from other authors. For example, after the detailed description of the chemical procedure to produce opiate Laudanum by Arthmann, he recalls the story narrated by Quercetano (Joseph Du Chesne 1546-1609) of a "Matrona di sangue nobile... travagliata da un'effetto Isterico, o Matricale, che dir vogliamo, in modo tale, che continuamente rimaneva oppressa da dolori convulsivi" (Matron of noble blood... troubled by a Hysterical effect, or Matricale, that we want to say, in such a way, that she remained oppressed by convulsive pains), until she was treated with laudanum (p. 223). For example, alternative techniques to extract guaiacum oil for a medication to treat syphilis that "consuma il morbo gallico con i suoi dolori, e si equipara a quanto può giovare il profumo di Mercurio, ma con più sicurezza" (destroys the French disease and its pains, with benefits similar to the perfume of Mercury, but with more reliability) (p. 364): "si distilla... per il lambicco di Rame... [oppure] empiendo una storta di vetro... operando nel principio con lento fuoco di carboni, e poi si andrà crescendo.... [oppure] per descenso tra due pignatte incastrate per l'apertura, sotterratte in terra e scaldate con il carbone" (it is distilled… with Roame’s alembic… [or] filling a glass retort… beginning with a slow coal fire which slowly increases… [or] between two interlocked pots, buried under the ground and heated with coal) (p. 264). Some exotic plant simples such as balsam, cocoa and tamarind are illustrated with rudimentary woodcuts. At the end, after the indexes, Donzelli summarises the harvest calendar of "Materie più necessarie per uso delle loro Eccellenti Farmaceutiche Officine" (most necessary Materials for use in their Excellent Pharmaceutical Laboratories) (p. 597).