Tribute to the Late Dr. Charles D. Hufford.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the late Dr. Charles (Charlie) D. Hufford, former Professor of Pharmacognosy and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Mississippi [...].

From Pharmacognosia to DNA-Based Medicinal Plant Authentication - Pharmacognosy through the Centuries.

For centuries, pharmacognosy was essential for the identification, quality, purity, and, until the end of the 18th century, even for the efficacy of medicinal plants. Since the 19th century, it concentrated on authenticity, purity, quality and the analysis of active substances, and was established as an academic branch discipline within pharmacy and continuously developed into a modern, highly sophisticated science. Even though the paradigm in pharmacy changed in the 19th century with the discovery of morphine and concentrated on single substances that could be synthesized fast by the upcoming industry, medicinal plants always remained an important element of the Materia medica, and during the last decades, medicinal plants continue to be a source of remedies, and natural products are an inspiration for new medicine. In this research, pharmacognostic skills remain an essential element, both with regards to identity, quality assurance of botanicals (both herbal medicines and supplements), and the discovery and development of new medicines. Over the years, the specific pharmacognostical tools have changed dramatically, and most recently, DNA-based techniques have become another element of our spectrum of scientific methods.

Turhan Baytop (1920-2002): A pioneer historian of pharmacy from Turkey.

Turhan Baytop, a Turkish professor of pharmacognosy (the scientific study of crude drugs of animal, vegetable, and mineral origin), received international acclaim not only for his contributions in collecting and identifying the Anatolian plants, but also for his extensive research shedding light on the history of Turkish pharmacy. As a devoted researcher, collector, and lecturer, T Baytop was a genuine pioneer of the history of pharmacy as a discipline in Turkey.

[The complex travel of cinchona barks between Peru and Québec Hôtel-Dieu, in the middle of the eighteenth century]. / Le circuit complexe du quinquina entre le Pérou et l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, au milieu du XVIIIe siècle.

Duplessis sisters, who were religious nuns in Hôtel-Dieu (Quebec hospital), were exchanging letters with a French apothecary from Dieppe in Normandy, named Jacques-Tranquilain Féret. They asked him to send them in Quebec the drugs and medicines their apothecary needed. Amongst these drugs were cinchona barks that came from Callao in Peru by boat, passed Cape Horn and then sailed to Cadiz, the great Spanish port. Then they embarked to Rouen, which was the French port for goods coming from overseas. The goods from Peru had then to be transported on little fishing boats to Dieppe, where Féret received the barks. The apothecary sent these drugs to Quebec by boats sailing either from Rouen or from La Rochelle. So these Peruvian drugs had to cross two times the Ocean before accessing to North America.

[Laboratory of Pharmacognosy of Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra (Portugal): teaching and et research (1902-1980)]. / Le laboratoire de pharmacognosie de la Faculté de pharmacie de l'Université de Coimbra (Portugal): enseignement et recherche (1902-1980).

In this article the authors present a brief history of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Portugal (1902-1980). The authors refer the importance of pharmacognosy in the study plans, the scientific research and the scientific collection of pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra. This heritage consists of collection of drugs prepared in the laboratory of pharmacognosy, a collection Drogen-Lehrsammlung purchased to E. Merck and a collection of botanic-didactic models of the XIXth century of the famous German manufacturer R. Brendel. The authors study the relationship between research and teaching, highlighting the importance of the collections of drugs.

[The Arabic influence in the "Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India" of Garcia da Orta]. / L'influence arabe dans "Les colloques des simples et des drogues de I'Inde" de Garcia da Orta.

The "Colóquios dos simples e drogas he cousas medicinais de Índia" (Conversations on the simples, drugs and medicinal substances of India) (1563) of Garcia da Orta is a botanical and pharmacognosy book. The author is a Portuguese physician who studied in the Spanish universities and practiced medicine mainly in India. He studies in short chapters presented in the form of dialogues about sixty simples. Sources to which he refers are indicative of a "classical" training, but also the mark of a curious and open mind to different cultures. The Arabic sources are numerous and mainly concern the identification of substances by abundant synonyms of their names in foreign languages and different medicinal uses that may have been done by the ancient physicians. However, Da Orta is critical with respect to these sources, seeking contradictions and differences of opinion among authors. He confronts them with the oral information collected thanks to a wide network of contacts.

[The Codex of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy of the University of Athens, Part. I]. / Le Codex manuscrit du laboratoire de pharmacognosie de l'Université d'Athènes, I(re) unite.

This work concerns the first part of a manuscript written in the 18th century and stored in the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy of the University of Athens. This part includes an introduction based on the theories of Hippocrates and Galen concerning the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, which should be in balance. During the seasons and depending of the age, these humors are converted to each other. Blood increases in the spring and in children, phlegm is growing in winter and in old man, yellow bile in adulthood and black bile in the fall and the third age. The disease is due to the increase or decrease in these fluids. Many formulas with purgative and cholagogue effects are described for each humor. The chapter ends with advice on the necessary diet, hygiene and lifestyle to keep health care.

[Prolegomenon of the Czech pharmacognosy: 21st century]. / Prolegomenon ceské farmakognozie: 21. století*

The paper analyzes the basic features of the development of pharmacognosy as the oldest profile subject of pharmacy primarily in Europe during the 20th century. Historical consequences of its development are declared, which should create the basis for its embedment, new content and tasks in Czech pharmacy of the 21st century, especially in education at Czech universities.

[Traditional use: phytopharmaceuticals seen from a historical perspective]. / Traditionelle Anwendung: Eine Betrachtung zu pflanzlichen Arzneimitteln aus pharmaziehistorischer Sicht.

In phytopharmacy, the term 'traditional use' is widely found in colloquial language but has also great significance for registration procedures of medicinal products. It is therefore justified to explore its actual meaning from the perspective of social and pharmaceutical history. It is shown that a tradition is founded by transmission of knowledge and techniques over at least three generations, while the life span of a generation may vary widely. Changes and adaptations to technical advancements do not at all avoid but even constitute the development of traditions. Historical research provides valuable knowledge about effectiveness and risk of phytopharmaceuticals. Criteria of traditional use may complement but not substitute modern evidence based methods; however they always need to be applied historically sound.

The first independent pharmacognosy institute in the world and its founder Julije Domac (1853-1928).

The aim of this article is to describe the foundation and development of the first distinct Institute of Pharmacognosy in the world and to provide a biography of its founder Julije Domac. The Institute was founded in 1896 as a separate institution at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. In other European university centers, pharmacognosy institutes were founded together with pharmacology, botany, pharmaceutical or general chemistry. Julije Domac (1853-1928) graduated pharmacy from the University of Vienna (1874) and received his Ph.D. from the University of Graz (1880) with a paper elucidating the structure of hexene and mannitol obtained from manna. He lectured pharmacognosy at the University of Zagreb (1887-1924), wrote chemistry and pharmacognosy textbooks, and co-wrote the Croatian-Slavonian Pharmacopoeia.