John Brown's system of medicine and its introduction in Denmark around 1800.

At the end of the eighteenth century a scientific basis for medicine was called for. The Scottish physician John Brown proposed an all-comprising medical system in 1780. A surplus or lack of stimulating factors, the prime movers of life according to Brown, was supposed to explain all diseases and indicate their treatment. Individuals only subjected to a small degree of stimulation became affected by "asthenic diseases" which were the most frequent diseases. They should be treated with abundant food and wine, supplemented with camphor, opium, or other drugs considered to be stimulating. Conversely, individuals with "sthenic diseases" should reduce their intake of food and beverage. Brown's system was received with transient approval by some Danish physicians from the late 1790s. But it soon proved to be of no value in medical practice, and its success dwindled within academic medicine around 1814. On the other hand, it seemed to generate new ideas. It became linked with the German Romantic Movement and "Naturphilosophie." The widespread use of camphor and opium in both academic and folk medicine, continued throughout the nine- teenth century and into the twentieth century.

William Tod Helmuth and Andrew Jackson Howe. Surgical sectarianism in 19th-century America.

Nineteenth-Century American society was particularly prone to the establishment of numerous unorthodox medical practices and their alternative therapies. The most influential of the unorthodox medical groups were the homeopathic and eclectic sects. From within the ranks of homeopathy and eclecticism, William Tod Helmuth and Andrew Jackson Howe, respectively, emerged to become the best-known sectarian surgeons of their era. Through a review of their lives this forgotten chapter in the history of American surgery is recollected.

[An example of practical medicine in al-Andalus: Abu-l- 'Ala' Zuhr's Kitab muyarrabat al-jawass (c. 1060-1131)]. / Un ejemplo de medicina prática en al-Andalus: el Kitab muyarrabat al-jawass de Abu-l- 'Ala' Zuhr (c. 1060-1131).

This article reports a preliminary study of Abu-l-Ala: his life, his works and his significance as a writer, scientist and physician. All existing Arab manuscripts on the Kitab muyarrabat al-jawass are cited, and Arabic manuscript no. 520 from the Bodleian Library in Oxford is described. Finally, the translation is given, and folios 41v., 42r., 52v., 53r., 81v., 82v., 93r., 94v., 97v., 100r. and 100v. reproduced, from the Bodleian Library manuscript of the Kitab muyarrabat al-jawass. This material includes the peculiarities and therapeutic features of plants and animals such as elecampane, love-in-a-mist, ivy, the goat, the ostrich, the hoopoe and laudanum. The text reproduced here, as well as the work in general, contains large doses of quackery.

Arsenic: a beneficial therapeutic poison - a historical overview.

Arsenicals have been used since ancient Greek and Roman civilizations and in the Far East as part of traditional Chinese medicine. In Western countries, they became a therapeutic mainstay for various ailments and malignancies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Fowler's potassium bicarbonate-based solution of arsenic trioxide (As2O3)solution was the main treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia until the 1930s. After a decline in the use of arsenic during the mid-20th century, arsenic trioxide was reintroduced as an anticancer agent after reports emerged from China of the success of an arsenic trioxide-containing herbal mixture for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia. Arsenic trioxide was first purified and used in controlled studies in China in the 1970s.Subsequently, randomised clinical trials performed in the United States led to FDA approval of arsenic trioxide in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

Al-Adwiyah Al-Qalbiyah: introduction and commentary.

Avicenna was a great scientist and philosopher of the 10th century A.D. He wrote about 456 books in various fields of learning. Al-Adwiyah Al-Qalbiyah is perhaps the most important work of Avicenna after Al-Qanun fil Tibb or canon of medicine. Like Al-Qanun, it was also very popular in Europe and was translated into Latin. It has also been translated in Turkish, Uzbbek, and later on in Persian and Urdu.

[Directions in the theoretical justification of treatment in German medicine of the first half of the 19th century]. / Kierunki teoretycznego uzasadniania terapii w medycynie niemieckiej pierwszej polowy xix stulecia.

The study presents the contemporary state of research in the historiography of medicine, with regard to the main currents in the theoretical justification of treatment in German medicine of the first half of the 19th century. Researchers distinguish three main currents: vitalist-eclectic, dynamic, and the current based on the precepts of German philosophy of nature (Naturphilosophie), especially the approach of F. Schelling. The article presents the underlying assumptions of each of the three currents; it presents their main representatives as well. The authors also analyses the background for the reception in Germany of medical theories and doctrines of a non-materialist character, making reference to factors of a socio-cultural nature.

Drugs from the new world: the contribution of the pre-Columbian to the European medical matter.

The discovery of America still goes on through the analysis of its medical matter. From the exploitation of the resources made by Columbus, to the comprehension of local civilizations and to the reception of their therapeutic means, is a path that winds, supported by different reasons: the economic return, the therapeutic efficacy, the cultural exchanges between peoples. Unfortunately, with the passing of time, many traditions, fruit of the experience of mysterious centuries, are lost. It is through the examination of American medical matter that we try - with the advantage of acquiring new curative means - to find a new key for the comprehension of its peoples.

[Comparative study of medicament culture between Japan and Occident].

Needless to say, cultural background of the medicines are dependent on traditions and systems of medical care of each country. Until Edo-Era in Japan, Wakanyaku (local phytotherapy), which was developed under the influence of Chinese culture was popular. In the Meiji-Era synthetic medicines beat the local one in accordance with the introduction of occidental culture. However, people are still attracted to Wakanyaku. At present many medical doctors are using Kampou-medicines consisting of Wakanyaku. In the Occident, Kampou-medicines are not much appreciated due to lack of scientific approval. Medicines differ with cultures. From the end of Edo-Era to the beginning of the Meiji-Era, occidental diplomats including physicians came to Japan and reported their observations on medical environment and cultural background. In their literal works they pointed out heterogeneity. For instance, people always kept Moxa at hand for unexpected disease. They felt strange that people treated themselves with Moxa without any knowledge of anatomy. Furthermore, they also mentioned that physicians of Kampou administered medicines without any chemical knowledge.

[Lessons from the history of therapy--therapeutic optimism and its pitfalls]. / Lehren aus der Therapiegeschichte--der therapeutische Optimismus und seine Tücken.

If we are to help patients effectively, our understanding of diseases and our therapeutic potential should, again and again, just be somewhat better than they actually are. Throughout the ages this has been the fundamental situation in medical practice. The response on the physician's part has nearly always been an attitude of therapeutic optimism. At all times physicians--and patients also--have relied on therapeutic principles and remedies based on professional experience and medical theory. In conjunction with the (generally recognized) healing powers of nature, and of (unrecognized) autosuggestion, this has led to many satisfactory and even remarkable cures. Examples from antiquity to the 19th century are quoted, and the snags of an over-optimistic attitude become evident, viz. a rational therapy is no better than the underlying pathogenetic theory; exaggerated therapeutic activity may cause useless torment to the patient (a point already made by Hippocrates); the optimistic physician or the enthusiastic pioneer of a new remedy may be blind to toxic side effects or the development of addiction. To sum up: therapeutic optimism is fine--but don't overdo it!