[Textual research on varieties of Draconis Sanguis].

This paper reviewed the historical evolution of the varieties of Draconis Sanguis in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) and discussed several doubts. Draconis Sanguis used in ancient Europe and Arabia was derived from Dracaena plants, and that originating from Southeast Asia entered the market in the 16 th century. Draconis Sanguis was introduced into China in the 5 th century at the latest and was once mixed with shellac for use. Draconis Sanguis in the Tang Dynasty and before was the resin of Dracaena plants. Scholars in the Song Dynasty have known that Draconis Sanguis came from the resin of tall trees, but their understanding of origin plants was inconsistent with the facts. The origin of Draconis Sanguis in the Song Dynasty was basically determined to be Mirbat(Maliba), Cengtan, and Somali, as well as Socotra Archipelago. About 1371-1416, Draconis Sanguis prepared from Daemonorops draco was imported into China, and was recorded earlier in The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores(Ying Ya Sheng Lan) and Code of Great Ming Dynasty(Da Ming Hui Dian). Draconis Sanguis prepared from Dracaena plants was still authentic for a long time after the import of that from D. draco into China. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Dian Zhi(1625), a lost edition of Materia Medica in Southern Yunnan(Dian Nan Ben Cao), Textual Research on Reality and Titles of Plants(Zhi Wu Ming Shi Tu Kao), and other local chronicles recorded that a new type of Draconis Sanguis(Mu Xue Jie) was produced in Yuanjiang, Yunnan province. The New Yunnan Chronicles of the Republic of China recorded the production of another type of Draconis Sanguis(Qi Lin Jie) in Xishuangbanna. However, the authenticity of the above two types has been difficult to confirm. In modern times, Draconis Sanguis prepared from D. draco gradually became the mainstream variety. In the 1970 s, Dracaena cochinchinensi was found in Yunnan and other provinces, and Draconis Sanguis from D. cochinchinensi was developed. This study is expected to provide a solid and reliable literature support for the research and development of Draconis Sanguis, enrich historical materials, and provide new clues for follow-up research.

A History of Uremia Research.

The history of uremia research begins with the discovery of urea and the subsequent association of elevated blood urea levels with the kidney disease described by Richard Bright, a well told story that needs no recounting. What this article highlights is how clinical and laboratory studies of urea launched the analysis of body fluids, first of urine and then of blood, that would beget organic chemistry, paved the way for the study of renal function and the use of urea clearance to determine "renal efficiency," provided for the initial classification of kidney disease, and clarified the concepts of diffusion and osmosis that would lead to the development of dialysis. Importantly and in contrast to how the synthesis of urea in the laboratory heralded the death of "vitalism," the clinical use of dialysis restored the "vitality" of comatose unresponsive dying uremic patients. The quest for uremic toxins that followed has made major contributions to what has been facetiously termed "molecular vitalism." In the course of these major achievements derived from the study of urea, the meaning of "what is life" has been gradually liberated from its past attribution to supernatural forces (vital spirit, archaeus, and vital force) thereby establishing the autonomy of biological life in which the kidney is the master chemist of the living body.

Pharmacy, Testing, and the Language of Truth in Renaissance Italy.

This article examines the role of testing and innovation in sixteenthcentury Italian pharmacy. I argue that apothecaries were less concerned with testing drugs for efficacy or creating novel products than with reactivating an older Mediterranean pharmacological tradition and studying the materials on which it relied. Their practice was not driven by radical experimentation but by a "culture of tweaking"-of minute operational changes to existing recipes and accommodation of their textual variants-which was rooted in the guild economy fostering incremental over radical innovation and in a humanist reevaluation of past autorities. Workshop practice was also increasingly driven by a new ideal of staying true to nature fostered by the period's botanical renaissance. This led to an emphasis on ingredients over processes in the shop, and found clearest expression in the elaboration of a taxonomic "language of truth" that helped apothecaries discern between authentic and inauthentic materia medica and harness their sincerity in lieu of testing effectiveness.

Influence of Arabian Pharmacy on Diseases Tretament During Ottoman's Period in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Arab cultural heritage was an era of invaluable preservation and development of numerous teachings, including biomedical sciences. The golden period of Arab medicine deserves special attention in the history of medicine and pharmacy, as it was the period of rapid translation of works from Greek and Persian cultures into Arabic. They preserved their culture, and science from decay, and then adopted them to continue building their science on theirs as a basis. After the fall of Arabian Caliphate, Arabian pharmacy, continued to persevere, and spread through Turkish Caliphate until its fall in the First World War. That way, Arabian pharmacy will be spread to new areas that had benefited from it, including the area of occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because of the vast territorial scope of the Ottoman Empire, the focus of this paper is description of developing pharmacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the time of Ottoman reign.

[Retrospect and prospect of medicinal plants cultivation in China].

There is time-honored history and culture of medicinal plant cultivation in China. In the present review, the medicinal plant cultivation history in china was summarized, its current situation and question were analyzed, and the prospects of medicinal plant cultivation research were pointed out, with the purpose of accelerating the growth of medicinal plant cultivation research.

[To Discern the Medical Thoughts of Heo Joon, the Best Physician in Korean History--An Analysis of Disease Experiences and Treatment Cases in the Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine].

Heo Joon is one of the best-known physicians of the Chosun Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty (1392~1910) of Korea. He had served King Seonjo () during his practice, and has produced many publications on medicine. Then, how did he actually treat the patients? So far, other than the case when he treated Gwanghaegun's smallpox, it is not clearly known how and when he attended and treated the ill. In his most famous book, the Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine, he details the physiopathological mechanisms, diagnoses, treatments or prescriptions, and treatment cases, however, it is not clear if they're from his own clinical experiences. Nevertheless, based on the written method, the original information is reconstituted according to its respective editors of the TMEM, a particular case being included may be considered as an agreement and acceptance of an actual treatment executed. This research analyzes what type of medicinal theory that the main writer Heo Joon employed in his real treatments, as well as how he diagnosed and treated diseases. After analyzing the complete series of the TMEM, we found a total of 301 clinical cases. Here, one may wonder, why does the Section of Inner and External Bodily Elements, that deal with diseases and the structure of the body, have far outnumber cases than the Section of Miscellaneous Disorders? Why does the TMEM introduce the various types of disease experiences and treatment cases, medical cases, simple treatments, nurturing life, materia medica, and also include supernatural phenomena? Why does the TMEM include the experiences and cases from the book published in the Song, Jin, Yuan dynasty of China, moreover in the Ming Dynasty of its time. These questions can be answered to the extent that Heo Joon and the others who participated in completing the book sought to justify the new clinical medicine practices, and because it had to be acceptable to the Confucius beliefs which dominated the society, and also because the book came to light in a time when tensions between the pre-existing Chosun medicine and the newly introduced Chinese medicine were evident. Among the clinical cases in the TMEM, there are only 41 cases that can be considered as Medical Cases which include the pathology and treatment mechanism. After analyzing these mechanisms, we were able to discover that they cover not only the theories of the 4 great physicians of Jin-Yuan Dynasty, but also the theories of the Danxi's Medical Current, a big trend in the Early Ming Dynasty, and some of the most recent clinical cases that had been just reported at the time. However, Heo Joon did not lean towards a particular theory of medicine; rather, he insisted on establishing a classical medicine based on the traditional medicinal scriptures such as the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon or Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, and had created his own Body-Viscera medicine, as Shin Dongwon's recent research. Moreover, he successfully secured his own right to be a clinical physician by customizing the amount of medication in prescriptions for the people of Chosun. Heo Joon was one of the chief physicians for the Royal Family of the Chosun Dynasty. Despite the tendency of traditional medicine to lean towards Taoism or Fangshu, for him the most important thing was the actual treatment of diseases. As a result, Heo Joon successfully treated smallpox by utilizing traditional medicinal methods, by breaking the taboo of not using medication on such diseases, as well as he was able to treat an unknown disease, scarlet fever, by discovering the pathological mechanism of the illness. Also he made bold decisions on altering existing prescriptions to treat diseases more efficiently. The TMEM consists of not only justified methods that integrate the different and scattered medicinal and clinical practices, which many insisted their originality, but also was backed with Heo Joon's such credible and endeavored clinical medicine.

[Revision to origin of northern Artemisia argyi in Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao gangmu)].

The origin of northern Artemisia argyi recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica(Bencao gangmu) is Fudao(Chinese characters) in Tangyin county, While there is only Fudao(Chinese characters) instead of Fudao(Chinese characters). Whether indeed Fudao(Chinese characters) is Fudao(Chinese characters)? By reviewing the genuine evolution of A. argyi, doing textual research on Fudao(Chinese characters) and combing with field survey data of national census of Chinese Materia Medica resources, this paper concluded that the word Fudao(Chinese characters) firstly emerged in Figure Canon of Chinese Materia Medica(Bencao tujing) of Susong in Song dynasty and was applied in later generations, but the implication was not clear, then emerged both Tangyin and Fudao(Chinese characters) in Compendium of Materia Medica(Bencao gangmu). The place Fudao(Chinese characters) is one of the graves of Bianque, that existed from Shang and Zhou dynasty and never changed until now, the A. argyi of Tangyin was famous from the grave of Bianque in Fudao(Chinese characters), which could infer that Lishizhen considered Fudao (Chinese characters) was Fudao(Chinese characters) indeed, and the origin of northern A. argyi was Fudao(Chinese characters) in Tangyin county.

Plants and their uses in dermatological recipes of the Receptarium of Burkhard III von Hallwyl from 16th century Switzerland - Data mining a historical text and preliminary in vitro screening.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Historical texts on materia medica can be an attractive source of ethnopharmacological information. Various research groups have investigated corresponding resources from Europe and the Mediterranean region, pursuing different objectives. Regardless of the method used, the indexing of textual information and its conversion into data sets useful for further investigations represents a significant challenge. AIM OF THE STUDY: First, this study aims to systematically catalogue pharmaco-botanical information in the Receptarium of Burkhard von Hallwyl (RBH) in order to identify candidate plants in a targeted manner. Secondly, the potential of RBH as a resource for pharmacological investigations will be assessed by means of a preliminary in vitro screening. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed a relational database for the systematic recording of parameters composing the medical recipes contained in the historical text. Focusing on dermatological recipes, we explored the mentioned plants and their uses by drawing on specific literature. The botanical identities (candidate species) suggested in the literature for the historical plant names were rated based on their plausibility of being the correct attribution. The historical uses were interpreted by consulting medical-historical and modern clinical literature. For the subsequent in vitro screening, we selected candidate species used in recipes directed at the treatment of inflammatory or infectious skin disorders and wounds. Plants were collected in Switzerland and their hydroethanolic crude extracts tested for possible cytotoxic effects and for their potential to modulate the release of IL-6 and TNF in PS-stimulated whole blood and PBMCs. RESULTS: The historical text analysis points up the challenges associated with the assessment of historical plant names. Often two or more plant species are available as candidates for each of the 161 historical plant names counted in the 200 dermatological recipes in RBH. On the other hand, our method enabled to draw conclusions about the diseases underlying the 56 medical applications mentioned in the text. On this basis, 11 candidate species were selected for in vitro screening, four of which were used in RBH in herbal simple recipes and seven in a herbal compound formulation. None of the extracts tested showed a noteworthy effect on cell viability except for the sample of Sanicula europaea L. Extracts were tested at 50 µg/mL in the whole blood assay, where especially Vincetoxicum hirundinaria Medik. or Solanum nigrum L. showed inhibitory or stimulatory activities. In the PBMC assay, the root of Vincetoxicum hirundinaria revealed a distinct inhibitory effect on IL-6 release (IC50 of 3.6 µg/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Using the example of RBH, this study illustrates a possible ethnopharmacological path from unlocking the historical text and its subsequent analysis, through the selection and collection of plant candidates to their in vitro investigation. Fully documenting our approach to the analysis of historical texts, we hope to contribute to the discussion on solutions for the digital indexing of premodern information on the use of plants or other natural products.

On the history of opium / Z dziejów opium.

Most likely, opium was the first narcotic substance discovered at the dawn of humankind. The history of drug addiction is immensely rich and allows for tracing the long way humankind had to travel to reach the contemporary level of consciousness with respect to narcotic substances. A retrospective view of drug addiction that takes into consideration the historical context, while extending our knowledge, also allows for a better understanding of today's problems. The report presents elements of a retrospective view of problems associated with addiction to opium, morphine and heroin over the centuries, what is a subject of scientific interest in contemporary toxicology.

The biopsychosocial model and its potential for a new theory of homeopathy.

Since the nineteenth century the theory of conventional medicine has been developed in close alignment with the mechanistic paradigm of natural sciences. Only in the twentieth century occasional attempts were made to (re)introduce the 'subject' into medical theory, as by Thure von Uexküll (1908-2004) who elaborated the so-called biopsychosocial model of the human being, trying to understand the patient as a unit of organic, mental, and social dimensions of life. Although widely neglected by conventional medicine, it is one of the most coherent, significant, and up-to-date models of medicine at present. Being torn between strict adherence to Hahnemann's original conceptualization and alienation caused by contemporary scientific criticism, homeopathy today still lacks a generally accepted, consistent, and definitive theory which would explain in scientific terms its strength, peculiarity, and principles without relapsing into biomedical reductionism. The biopsychosocial model of the human being implies great potential for a new theory of homeopathy, as may be demonstrated with some typical examples.

Geographical expansion and the reconfiguration of medical authority: Garcia de Orta's Colloquies on the simples and drugs of India (1563).

The Colloquies on the simples and drugs of India (1563) were conceived and published at a sensitive moment, both in terms of the history of print culture and of European geographical expansion. They represented the culmination of a life-time project for their author Garcia de Orta who had lived for almost thirty years in Portuguese Goa. Although the importance of the work in sixteenth-century natural history and medicine has been generally acknowledged in Portuguese and international historiography, there are very few recent, detailed studies of the book informed by new approaches. This paper presents an integrated analysis of Orta's Colloquies as a literary, medical and cultural text. It aims to reveal not only the rich and subtle dynamics of the work but also to contribute to a better understanding of Orta's legitimation strategies as an author in a sixteenth-century world reconfigured by the new opportunities of the printing press, geographical expansion and increased material and cultural mobility.

[Behind the naming of herbal section as the decoction section in Treasured Mirror Of Eastern Medicine].

Heo Jun, who is the main compiler of Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine, states to applicate Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, Rihuazi's annotations and Li Gao and Zhu Zhenheng's opinion to arrange materia medica on the introductory notes of Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine. While Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica and Rihuazi's annotations are both conventional texts dealing with materia medica, Li Gao and Zhu Zhenheng are just clinical practitioners. Not only Li Gao has no authorship on materia medica, but also Zhu Zhenheng's Supplement to the Elucidation of Materia Medica is assessed to have no distinctive achievements. Nevertheless, Heo Jun shows positive considerations for their achievements of materia medica. Specifically, on the Decoction Section in Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine, theories of lift, lower, float, sink and Channel Entry, both representative achievements of Yishui school-including Li Gao-are adopted as it is, and Zhu Zhenheng's expressions are frequently utilized for conclusive remarks of medicinal effect. Furthermore, applications of both clinicians can be found within nature & flavour which is one of the principal terms of understanding materia medica. While being based on the conventional materia medica text Classified Emergency Materia Medica, the Decoction section in Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine is not restrained by the intricate traditional compositions and shows a new aspect of depiction by adding clinical information. And I think it is a important meaning of the Decoction section, which is the herbal chapter of Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine.

[Alchemy, freemasonry and homeopathy]. / Alchimie, franc-maçonnerie et homéopathie.

In this article we are showing that homeopathic doctrine has really esoteric and occult origins as it was suspected by a few authors, nevertheless we saw Hahnemann also using scientific writers. As early as twenty-two years old Hahnemann was initiate in the freemasonry, very in vogue at that time. He will be life long attached to it and will keep close to distinguished freemasons. Freemasonry has conveid enlightement philosophical ideas as well as occult, alchemical and theosophical ones by successive incursion of very different orders. Among these we can find a few rosicrucians orders. At the beginning of 17th century in Germany, the first rosicrucians authors appealed to Paracelse, and the first members of their legendary fraternity manifested their contempt for the practice of transmutation into gold and must devote themselves to gratuitous medical practice (famous utopia). Freemasonry took again these philanthropic views so that Hahnemann was certainly involved to the ideas of Paracelse and his followers through the Rosicrucians which played a substantial part within freemasonry before homeopathy rose.

The "Table of mineral classification" by Oscar Nerval de Gouvêa: mineralogy and medicine in Brazil.

Oscar Nerval de Gouvêa was a scientist and teacher in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, whose work spanned engineering, medicine, the social sciences, and law. This paper presents and discusses a manuscript entitled "Table of mineral classification," which he appended to his dissertation Da receptividade mórbida , presented to the Faculty of Medicine in 1889. The foundations and features of the table provide a focus for understanding nineteenth-century mineralogy and its connections in Brazil at that time through this scientist. This text was Gouvêa's contribution to the various mineral classification systems which have emerged from different parts of the world.

The real Theriac - panacea, poisonous drug or quackery?

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Theriac is considered the most popular cure-all multi-ingredient medicine and has been used for more than two millennia. It has also been used as one of the most important anti-epidemic drugs up to the 19th c., treated as an emergency medicine in case of e.g. bubonic plague. AIM OF THE STUDY: Until now, no reliable information regarding the pharmacological effect of the treacle was available, including its possible toxic or narcotic properties. In order to change the state of knowledge in this matter we have selected the Theriac recipe that had been actually used for producing the treacle in 1630, which was confirmed by the official municipal documents of the time. METHODS: The recipe was written in Latin, with the use of pre-Linnean nomenclature and then apothecary common names, which required translation into the modern scientific language in order to get reliable pharmacological conclusions. The information from historical sources has been compiled with the pharmacological data concerning the most potent compounds, which for the first time made it possible to calculate the amounts of active compounds in the doses taken by then patients. RESULTS: Only two species included in Theriac can be harmful in humans: poppy and sea squill, but in both cases the calculated quantity of morphine and cardiac glycosides, respectively, were below toxic level. There are no indications, both from the historical and pharmacological point of view, for Theriac being toxic or narcotic in patients, when used as prescribed. CONCLUSIONS: As for now, the most probable is that the treacle owed its postulated efficacy in the main indications to the placebo effect. Still, the results should be further confirmed by reconstructing the actual Theriac and subjecting it to modern tests and analyses.

Analysis of historical changes in traditional Chinese medicine based on an Indonesian collection of Chinese materia medica from c. 1870.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Traditional Chinese Medicine is subject to changes over time: product names, botanical ingredients, processing methods and uses have varied throughout the course of history. Historic collections of Chinese materia medica (CMM) are of great value for research on the evolvement, development and variability of Chinese herbal medicine over time. These changes may have a significant influence on the safety and efficiency of nowadays' clinical practice. Here we investigate a historic collection of Chinese medicinal products purchased in Indonesia in c. 1870, containing about 395 specimens. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study compares the specimens contained in late 19th century collection of CMM with contemporary marketed materials by investigating changes in vernacular names, botanical identity and processing methods which are important aspects for safety and clinical practice today. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The contents and associated documentation of the CMM collection of Dr. C.H.A. Westhoff (University Museum Utrecht) were revised by means of morphological identification and study of the associated historic documentation. We compared this Westhoff collection with contemporary CMM, information from literature and various quality standards, including the official Chinese pharmacopoeia. RESULTS: The Westhoff collection represents a unique, well preserved collection of Chinese materia medica, with original uniform bottles, Chinese labels and a partly intact handwritten catalogue. Among the 395 specimens (bottles) of CMM surveyed, there are 387 contain a single component drug, while eight contain multiple components drugs. A total of 293 of the 395 specimens are mentioned in the modern Chinese pharmacopoeia. Ca. 25% of the specimens had been processed, such as stir-fried with or without adjuvants. Our analysis of local Chinese names, botanical content and processing methods indicate that this collection originates from southern part of China, possibly including in the region of Taiwan and was meant as a showcase for pharmaceutical education and/or as curiosity object. CONCLUSION: Differences in vernacular names, plant parts and processing methods between the Westhoff collection and the current Chinese pharmacopoeia illustrate the regional variety of CMM and changes in CMM in the course of time. This work contributes to the understanding of the evolvement of CMM from a historic perspective.

[A short history of anti-rheumatic therapy. I. An introduction on traditional and drug treatments]. / Piccola storia della terapia antireumatica. I. Una premessa sulle terapie tradizionali e farmacologiche.

The origins of anti-rheumatic therapy are very old and mainly related to the use of traditional, sometimes extravagant, treatments, as a part of folk medicine. Spa therapy has long been used for the treatment of rheumatic diseases, as well as, in later times, physical treatments, including electrotherapy. Drug treatment has developed beginning from substances of vegetable origin, such as willow and colchicum extracts. Then it has been spread out through the chemical synthesis of compounds with specific action and therefore more effective, owing to the great development of pharmaceutical industry.

[Lady's work and bestseller: the remedies of Madame Fouquet]. / Ouvrage de Dame et succès de librairie: les remèdes de Madame Fouquet.

During the 17th century, Mrs Fouquet who was the mother of the minister of Finances, Nicolas Fouquet, was a charitable Lady who prepared medicines and distributed these remedies to poor people. One of her sons, Louis, who was the bishop of Agde, decided to publish his mother's formulas. He asked his own doctor, named Delescure, to carry out the edition of the formulas he had collected from his mother. The book was first published in 1675, and it twas published again more than fifty times, until 1765. This book was very useful for charitable Ladies and clergymen who purchased poor people with medicines.

[Looking for the roots of Wa Na Qi].

Wa Na Qi(), is a traditional-curing male impotence medicinal. We have made several conclusions through a field investigation to Antarctica, material medica literature research, and current market investigation. Throughout history, Wa Na Qi (also known ashaigou shen) was a word of vague connotation which was not the meaning of a specific product. However, the most common meaning of Wa Na Qi was the penises of several different species of seals. The name Wa Na Qi was adapted from a foreign word, and it is believed to sound like walrus, which has also been credited as a source for Wa Na Qi. In Chinese, Wa Na was a reference to the roundness of the walrus but eventually became a general description of heaviness. Later, it became a name for fur seals. The Song Dynasty Materia Medica Bencao Tujing(, Illustration of Materia Medica) and the Ming Dynasty Materia Medica Bencao Pinhui Jingyao(, Collected Essentials of Species of Materia Medica) both had animal illustrations resembling fur seals. The illustrations in the Compendium of Materia Medica, or Bencao Gangmu, Jinling edition also had characteristics of a fur seal. However, in the Buyi Leigong Paozhi Bianlan(, Lei Gong's Guide to Drug Preparation with Addenda) and later materia medica works, the animal illustrations became distorted and almost myth-like. After a field investigation in Antarctica, we learned that historically, name Wa Na Qi probably originated from seals, such as fur seals. This information matches the current medicines available on the market.