O.Henry says the pharmacist smelled bad.
"Behind his counter he was a superior being, calmly conscious of special knowledge and worth; outside he was a weak-kneed, purblind, motorman-cursed rambler, with ill-fitting clothes stained with chemicals and smelling of socotrine aloes and valerianate of ammonia."

I could not find out what socotrine was. I have made pills
of aloes, and do not recall objectionable odour. The last item has a peculiar spelling, which is not in the online dictionaries. I suppose it is some compound of valeric acid, which is one of the things that gives garbage its
characteristic disagreeable odour. I cannot imagine what use a pharmacist would use it for.