[Impotence and belief in witchcraft: a medical treatise by the Ulm town physician Wolfgang Reichart (1486-1547)]. / Impotenz und Hexenglauben: Ein medizinischer Traktat des Ulmer Stadtarztes Wolfgang Reichart (1486­1547).

BACKGROUND: The belief in witchcraft influenced medical thinking and action in the 16th century. In a hitherto unknown treatise on impotence, the Ulmian town physician Wolfgang Reichart (1486-1547) has rationally explained it by using medical concepts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The treatise was transcribed, translated, and analyzed in terms of its sources, structure, and content. The results were compared with the concept of Johann Weyer (1515-1588). RESULTS: Reichart explains his patient's impotence as an acquired disease involving demons. Since demons act only naturally on the human body, the disease is naturally curable. The basis of the therapy is a medieval pathophysiological concept that combined ancient elements. CONCLUSIONS: Reichart's therapy differs from that of contemporary physicians because he treats the patient himself and does not send him to a theologian. Unlike Weyer, he offers a detailed pathophysiological concept in order to explain impotence medically.

Dermatology in Ancient Rome: Medical ingredients in Ovid's "Remedies for female faces".

BACKGROUND: In Roman medicine, face packs, plasters, unguents, and peelings were part of the therapy of dermatological diseases, but also served cosmetic purposes. Ancient medical textbooks inform us about the ingredients for these applications. Beyond medical literature, other genres contain information about dermatological applications. The Roman poet Ovid (43 BC-17 AD) wrote a didactic poem recording five recipes for topical applications for female faces (Medicamina faciei femineae). Researchers debate the relation of Ovid's poem to Roman medicine: Does the poem contain therapeutical or cosmetical information, or is it mere belles lettres? AIMS: The objective of the paper is to conduct a medico-historical classification of Ovid's poem by determining whether the ingredients of Ovid's recipes were thought to be effective by the authors of Roman medical textbooks. METHODS: First, translation and identification of the ingredients were carried out. Second, comparison of the ingredients' functions regarding the therapy of dermatological diseases in two important Roman medical textbooks was realized. For this purpose, several commentaries on the text of Ovid were used and a keyword search in Roman medical textbooks was performed. RESULTS: Ovid's five recipes contain 23 ingredients. All ingredients can be found in medical textbooks. We find that 14 of these ingredients serve cosmetic purposes, 17 serve the therapy of dermatological diseases, and 13 serve both. CONCLUSION: Ovid's recipes contain drugs that were considered effective by the authors of Roman medical textbooks. These drugs were recommended both for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes by the same authors. Therefore, Ovid's didactic poem is not mere belles lettres, but contains serious medical and cosmetical information. As far as we know, it is the first Roman text that contains dermatological recipes.

From poison to drug: new recipes discovered containing colchicine as a remedy for Podagra in Rome and Byzantium.

OBJECTIVES: In Antiquity, colchicine was used as a poison and as a remedy for Podagra. Research so far has revealed that the physician Alexander of Tralles was the first who used it in the 6th century AD. Alexander recommended a plant he called "Hermodaktylon", which takes off the pain in the feet immediately. "Hermodaktylon" is identified with Colchicum autumnale L., which contains colchicine in his bulbs and seeds. We will present new data that varieties of Colchicum were used for medical treatment of Podagra far earlier than hitherto known by research. METHODS: We performed a systematic full text search in Greek and Latin original sources of Antiquity for "Hermodaktylon"/"Hermodactylus" and for the synonyms "Ephemeron"/"Ephemerum", "Kolchikon"/"Colchicum", and "Bolbos (agrios)"/"bulbus (agrestis)". We analysed our findings with philological and historico-critical methods. RESULTS: There are 48 text passages in original sources. Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD) was the first who mentioned a plant he called "bolbos" as a remedy for Podagra. The Byzantine physician Jacobus Psychrestes (5th century AD) developed two recipes. Aëtius of Amida (6th century AD) transmitted two recipes. One case with an overdose of colchicine was discovered which resulted in the death of a patient in Byzantine times. CONCLUSIONS: New specific recipes containing Colchicum were discovered. Jacobus Psychrestes and Aëtius used Colchicum systematically for the therapy of Podagra earlier than the 6th century AD. However, the therapeutic use of Colchicum was already known in the 2nd century AD.