Avicenna's pharmacopeia for the treatment of animal bites.

Envenomation is a common medical problem. The Canon of Medicine written by Avicenna is one of the reliable sources of Persian medicine. The present study aims to identify Avicenna's clinical pharmacology approach and the pharmacopeia used for the treatment of animal envenomations and also to evaluate the related data in light of the current medicine. The Canon of Medicine was searched using related Arabic keywords for the contents about the treatment of animal bites. A literature search was conducted in scientific databases including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science to obtain relevant data. Avicenna recommended one hundred and eleven medicinal plants for the treatment of bites of vertebrate and invertebrate venomous animals including snakes, scorpions, spiders, wasps, and centipedes. He mentioned different methods of administrating these drugs including oral drugs, lotions, sprayed drugs, slow-dissolving tablets in the mouth, and enemas. Moreover, he paid special attention to pain relief in addition to specific treatments for animal bites. In the Canon of Medicine, Avicenna recommended several medicinal plants alongside analgesics for the management and treatment of animal envenomations. The current research elucidates the clinical pharmacology and pharmacopeia of Avicenna for the treatment of animal envenomations. Further research is encouraged to evaluate the efficacy of these therapeutic agents for the treatment of animal bites.

Was William Harvey's commitment to experimentation reflected in his clinical practice?

The physician and physiologist Dr William Harvey is known for having discovered that the heart pumps arterial blood round the whole body and receives venous blood from the periphery, which it forwards to the lungs for reoxygenation. Harvey's discovery was based on anatomical and physiological evidence and experiments using ligatures of varying tensions. As a clinician, however, Harvey does not appear to have appreciated the value of experiments in assessing treatment effects. Although he criticised Galenic views about the clinical value of experience and authority in the absence of accompanying empirical evidence, two handwritten prescriptions that he wrote for his friend and future biographer John Aubrey provide evidence that he conformed with Galenic theory when it came to drug therapy in clinical practice. This was consistent with his senior position in the College of Physicians, whose Pharmacopoeia Londinensis was based on Galenic principles, an appreciation of which was required for entry into the College. Harvey's prescriptions reflect this and open a window onto 17th-century therapeutic practice and the personal elements on which such practice was sometimes based.

[Great Folk Medicine Book from Poljica (Bratulic's Folk Medicine Book)] / Velika Poljicka ljekarusa (Bratuliceva ljekarusa)

The paper presents a folk recipe collection manuscript written by an unknown author in Poljica area, in the 18th century. It is owned by the philologist, historian of literature and bibliophile, Josip Bratulic. Therefore, the author suggests that this recipe collection should bear the name Great folk medicine book from Poljica (Bratulic's folk medicine book). The manuscript is written in Latin script and Croatian language. It consists of 288 pages written in black ink and contains more than 1,100 recipes making it one of the largest known manuscripts. Although well preserved, a small part of it is unreadable. Most recommended recipes are for treating humans and domestic animals, while several recipes contain household tips. The abundance of its content, expressions, and healing instructions add this recipe collection to other similar manuscripts of this region, which create precious part of the Croatian medical, pharmaceutical, and cultural heritage.

The historical development of pharmacopoeias and the inclusion of exotic herbal drugs with a focus on Europe and Brazil.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: In spite of the rich bio-cultural diversity found in the Neotropics relatively few herbal drugs native to South America are included in the global pharmacopoeia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the attempt to historically explain the inclusion of herbal drugs into official pharmacopoeias we consider the disparate epidemiology and cultural evolution of the New and the Old World. We then trace the development of pharmacopoeias and review forces that worked towards and against the synchronization of pharmacopoeias and highlight the role of early chemical and pharmacological studies in Europe. Finally, we compare the share of exotic and native herbal drug species included in the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia with the share of exotic and native species included in the European Pharmacopoeia as well as those used for products registered with ANVISA. RESULTS: The domination of Eurasian herbal drugs in the European Pharmacopoeia seems to be conditioned by the geographical extension of Eurasia, which facilitated the interchange of materia medica and the creation of a consensus of use since ancient times. At the time of the Conquest the epidemiology of the Amerindian populations resembled that of pre-agriculturalist societies while no written consensus around efficacious medicine existed. Subsequently, introduced and well-tried plant species of the Old World gained therapeutic importance in the New World. CONCLUSION: The research focus in Europe and the US resulted in a persistence of herbal drugs with a historic importance in the European and US pharmacopoeias, which gained a status as safe and efficacious. During the last decades only few ethnopharmacological field-studies have been conducted with indigenous Amerindian groups living in the Brazilian Amazon, which might be attributable to difficulties in obtaining research permissions. Newly adopted regulations regarding access to biodiversity and traditional knowledge as well as the simplified procedure for licencing herbal medicinal products in Brazil prospects an interesting future for those aiming at developing herbal medicine based on bio-cultural diversity and respecting the protocols regulating benefit sharing.

Theophilus Redwood, héroe de la farmacia británica, primer Presidente de "The Society of Public Analysts". Part II / Theophilus Redwood, hero of the British pharmacy, first President of "The Society of Public Analysts". Part II

La contribución de Teophilus Redwood tanto a la Farmacopea Británica como a la Farmacia Práctica son perfiladas en esta parte del trabajo. El galés Redwood es uno de los héroes de la farmacia británica, y la Escuela de Farmacia de la Universidad de Cardiff lleva su nombre: Edificio Redwood. Se consideran los comienzos de la "Pharmaceutical Society" y de la "Chemical Society", ambas fundadas el mismo año, en 1841. La fundación de ambas instituciones fue un hecho decisivo en el establecimiento de la farmacia y la química como disciplinas académicas distintivas. Seis de los veintitrés miembros honorarios elegidos por la "Pharmaceutical Society" en 1841, se encontraban entre los fundadores de la "Chemical Society". Redwood ocupó durante unos veinte años seguidos puestos directivos en la "Chemical Society": miembro del Consejo (1849-50), Secretario (1851-65), Tesorero (1865-69) y Vicepresidente (1869-72). Se ofrece un breve resumen de los Congresos Internacionales de Farmacia. Redwood fue Presidente del 5º Congreso internacional de Farmacia, celebrado en Londres, que puede considerarse como una de las etapas previas en la creación de la Federación Farmacéutica Internacional (FIP)

Theophilus Redwood contribution to both the British Pharmacopeia and Practical Pharmacy are outlined in this part of the paper. The Welsh Redwood is one of the heroes of the British pharmacy and the building of the School of Pharmacy of the University of Cardiff takes his name: Redwood building. The beginnings of the Pharmaceutical Society and Chemical Society, both institutions founded in the same year, 1841, are outlined. The founding of both was a decisive event in the establishment of pharmacy and chemistry as distinctive academic disciplines. Six of the twenty-three honorary members elected by the Pharmaceutical Society in 1841 were among the founders of the Chemical Society. Redwood held executive positions in the Chemical Society for twenty consecutive years: Council member (1849-50), Secretary (1851-65), Treasurer (1865-69) and Vicepresident (1869-72). An overview of the International Congresses of Pharmacy is given. Redwood was President of the fifth International Congress of Pharmacy celebrated in London, one of the stages in the creation of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)

De los primeros textos de análisis volumétricos / First texts of volumetric analysis

En este trabajo se pasa revista a los primeros textos publicados sobre análisis volumétrico aportando datos sobre la vida y obra de sus autores: Schwarz, Mohr, Poggiale, y Beckurts

This paper reviews the first published textbooks on volumetric analysis providing data on the life and work of their authors: Schwarz, Mohr, Poggiale and Beckurts

Estudio descriptivo y analítico del "Formulario cirujíco para uso del Hospital del Militar de Mahón" / Surgical Formulary for use at the Military Hospital of Mahon

El "Formulario cirujíco para el uso del Hospital Miliar de Mahón" fue redactado por el director del hospital y cirujano mayor el Dr. Manuel Rodríguez Caramazana el 25 de marzo de 1808. Este artículo recoge el estudio descriptivo y analítico realizado en la edición facsímil del formulario publicada en 2014 por la Fundación Uriach en colaboración con la Fundación Hospital Illa del Rei. El Hospital de la Isleta o Real Hospital del Ejército y la Marina fue considerado el más relevante entre los hospitales militares de la península ibérica, por su situación geográfica y por las aplicaciones terapéuticas, quirúrgicas y medicamentosas realizadas. El estudio contextualiza el texto original y describe los preparados farmacéuticos utilizados en la asistencia a los heridos de este Hospital de Menorca durante la Guerra de la Independencia Española y que, un siglo más tarde, todavía fueron utilizados en hospitales europeos de renombre como el de París

The Surgery Formulary for the use at the Military Hospital of Mahon was critten by the hostpial director and surgeon-major Dr. Manuel Rodríguez Caramazana on 25th March 1808. This article includes the descriptive and analytical study carried out in the facsimile edition of the formulary published in 2014 by the Uriach Foundation in collaboration with the Hospital Illa del Rei Foundation. The Isleta Hospital or Royal Army and Navy Hospital was considered the most relevant among the military hospitals on the Iberian Peninsula, for its geographical location and the therapeutic, surgical and clinical treatments aplied. The study contextualizes the original text and describes the pharmaceutical preparations used in the care of the wounded of this Menorca Hospital during the Sapnish War of Independence and that, a century later, were still used in renowned European hospitals such as that in Paris

Clinical pharmacy in the genomic era / Farmacia clínica en la era del genoma

Over a century ago Gregor Mendel investigated quantitatively how physical traits of plants were passed on from one generation to the next. Soon after, William Bateson and Archibald Garrod showed the relevance of Mendel’s findings to human disease. Pharmacists have throughout history marketed themselves as experts who could treat disease with specific medicines. Their claims were however poorly validated until Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch established the microbial aetiology of many diseases. Effective antimicrobial agents and immunotherapies soon became available for an expanding range of infections, and personalisation of treatment became possible through sensitivity testing. Later, a greater understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of nonmicrobial diseases led to the development of effective drugs, such as antihypertensives and anticoagulants. As a result, current pharmacopoeias bear no resemblance to their predecessors cluttered with predominantly useless drugs. With the unravelling of the double helical structure of DNA and greater understanding of its implications for health and disease, pharmacopoeias are being rewritten again. The new drugs enable an unprecedented level of individualisation of therapy. To optimise the promise of these drugs, input from a new generation of well-informed clinical pharmacists is needed. In this presentation, we identify some of these developments, and where input from pharmacists is most likely to be required. Will clinical pharmacists deliver? (AU)

Hace más de un siglo Gregor Mendel investigó cuantitativamente cómo se transmitían los rasgos físicos de las plantas de una generación a la siguiente. Poco después, William Bateson y Archibald Garrod mostraron la relevancia de los hallazgos de Mendel en las enfermedades humanas. A lo largo de la historia, los farmacéuticos se han considerado como expertos que podían tratar la enfermedad con medicamentos específicos. Sin embargo, sus afirmaciones fueron mal validadas hasta que Louis Pasteur y Robert Koch establecieron la etiología microbiana de muchas enfermedades. Los agentes antimicrobianos eficaces y las inmunoterapias pronto estuvieron disponibles para un número de infecciones en expansión y la personalización del tratamiento se hizo posible a través de pruebas de sensibilidad. Posteriormente, una mayor comprensión de la patogénesis molecular de las enfermedades no microbianas condujo al desarrollo de fármacos eficaces, tales como antihipertensivos y anticoagulantes. Como resultado, las farmacopeas actuales no guardan ningún parecido con sus predecesoras llenas de drogas básicamente inútiles. Con la desintegración de la doble estructura helicoidal del ADN y una mayor comprensión de sus implicaciones para la salud y la enfermedad, las farmacopeas se están volviendo a escribir. Los nuevos fármacos permiten un nivel sin precedentes de individualización de la terapia. Para optimizar la promesa de estos fármacos, se necesita el aporte de una nueva generación de farmacéuticos clínicos bien informados. En esta presentación, identificamos algunos de estos desarrollos y el lugar en el que el papel de los farmacéuticos es más probable que sea necesario. ¿Cumplirán los farmacéuticos clínicos? (AU)

Traditional Mediterranean and European herbal medicines.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Written history allows tracing back Mediterranean and European medical traditions to Greek antiquity. The epidemiological shift triggered by the rise of modern medicine and industrialization is reflected in contemporary reliance and preferences for certain herbal medicines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We sketch the development and transmission of written herbal medicine through Mediterranean and European history and point out the opportunity to connect with modern traditions. RESULTS: An ethnopharmacological database linking past and modern medical traditions could serve as a tool for crosschecking contemporary ethnopharmacological field-data as well as a repository for data mining. Considering that the diachronic picture emerging from such a database has an epidemiological base this could lead to new hypotheses related to evolutionary medicine. CONCLUSION: The advent of systems pharmacology and network pharmacology opens new perspectives for studying past and current herbal medicine. Since a large part of modern drugs has its roots in ancient traditions one may expect new leads for drug development from novel systemic studies, as well as evidence for the activity of certain herbal preparations.

Is there nothing new under the sun? The influence of herbals and pharmacopoeias on ethnobotanical traditions in Albacete (Spain).

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: This paper has two overarching aims: (1) presenting the results of studying the Albacete tariff of medicines of 1526 and (2) broadly analyzing the origin and influences of medicinal traditional knowledge in the region of Albacete, Spain. We use historical and modern literature that may have influenced this knowledge. Our primary goal was to determine the ingredients used in the pharmacy in the 16th century CE in Albacete through the analysis of the tariff, and our secondary goal was to investigate until when ingredients and uses present in pharmacy and herbals persisted in later periods. METHODS: The identity of medicines and ingredients was determined by analyzing contemporary pharmacopoeias and classical pharmaceutical references. We analyzed further 21 sources (manuscripts, herbals, and books of medicines, pharmacopoeias, pharmacy inventories, and modern ethnobotanical records) for the presence/absence of ingredients and complex formulations of the tariff. Using factorial and cluster analysis and Bayesian inference applied to evolution models (reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo), we compared textual sources. Finally, we analyzed the medicinal uses of the top 10 species in terms of frequency of citation to assess the dependence of modern ethnobotanical records on Renaissance pharmacy and herbals, and, ultimately, on Dioscorides. RESULTS: In Albacete 1526, we determined 101 medicines (29 simple drugs and 72 compound medicines) comprising 187 ingredients (85% botanical, 7.5% mineral, and 7.5% zoological substances). All composed medicines appear standardized in the pharmacopoeias, notably in the pharmacopoeia of Florence from 1498. However, most were no longer in use by 1750 in the pharmacy, and were completely absent in popular herbal medicine in Albacete 1995 as well as in Alta Valle del Reno (Italy) in 2014. Among the ingredients present in different formulation are the flowers of Rosa gallica, honey (Apis mellifera), the roots of Nardostachys jatamansi, and Convolvulus scammonia, pistils of Crocus sativus, grapes and raisins (Vitis vinifera), rhizomes of Zingiber officinale, bark of Cinnamomum verum, leaves and fruits of Olea europaea, mastic generally of Pistacia lentiscus, and wood of Santalum album. The statistical analysis of sources produces four well-separated clusters (Renaissance Herbals and Pharmacopoeias, Ethnobotany and Folk Medicine, Old phytotherapy, and Modern phytotherapy including Naturopathy) confirming our a priori classification. The clade of Renaissance Herbals and Pharmacopoeias appears separated from the rest in 97% of bootstrapped trees. Bayesian inference produces a tree determined by an initial set of two well-distinct core groups of ingredients: 64, locally used in Mediterranean Europe during centuries; and 45, imported, used in pharmacy during centuries. Complexity reached its maximum in Albacete 1526 and contemporary pharmacopoeias, gradually decreasing over time. The analysis of medicinal uses of the top 10 ingredients showed low coincidence between Dioscorides and different Renaissance herbals or medical treatises and of all of them with ethnobotany in Albacete. CONCLUSIONS: Regarding our question: is there something new under the sun? In some aspects, the answer is "No". The contrast between expensive drugs, highly valued medicines, and unappreciated local wild medicinal plants persists since the Salerno's school of medicine. Old medicine in Mediterranean Europe, as reflected by Albacete 1526 tariff of medicines, involved strict formulations and preferences for certain ingredients despite other ingredients locally available but underappreciated. This confirms the fact that any system of medicine does not get to use all available resources. Ethnobiological records of materia medica, in rural areas of Albacete, describe systems with a high degree of stability and resilience, where the use of local resources, largely wild but also cultivated, is predominant in contrast with the weight of imported exotic products in pharmacy.

[Two books printed in Strasburg during the 16th century present in the inventory of the Paris College of Pharmacy Library].

The catalogue of the College of Pharmacy Library, written in 1780, mentioned two books printed in Strasburg during the 16th century. The first one was a Latin edition of PΠερι Υλης Ιατριχης of Dioscorides. The drop caps are enriched by the figuration of episodes from the Bible. The principal interest of this book comes from the identity of his donator, Ioannes Du Boys, apothecary of the Duke of Alençon, the brother of King Henry III. This apothecary was also the author of a pharmacopoeia entitled Methodus Miscendorum Medicamentorum. The second one was a compendium of various titles, which had, most of them, in common to have been written by Valerius Cordus. It contains many illustrations and some of them are especially expressive. Its main interest is nevertheless to be a part of a gift made by a group of Parisian apothecaries, in 1570. This gift is considered as the birth of apothecaries' library, the direct ancestor of actual "BIU Santé pole Pharmacy". The presence of these two books in the library constitutes a testimony of the importance of printers from Strasburg in history.

Medicinal Formulas and Experiential Knowledge in the Seventeenth-Century Epistemic Exchange between China and Europe.

This essay deals with the medical recipe as an epistemic genre that played an important role in the cross-cultural transmission of knowledge. The article first compares the development of the recipe as a textual form in Chinese and European premodern medical cultures. It then focuses on the use of recipes in the transmission of Chinese pharmacology to Europe in the second half of the seventeenth century. The main sources examined are the Chinese medicinal formulas translated­presumably­by the Jesuit Michael Boym and published in Specimen Medicinae Sinicae (1682), a text that introduced Chinese pulse medicine to Europe. The article examines how the translator rendered the Chinese formulas into Latin for a European audience. Arguably, the translation was facilitated by the fact that the recipe as a distinct epistemic genre had developed, with strong parallels, in both Europe and China. Building on these parallels, the translator used the recipe as a shared textual format that would allow the transfer of knowledge between the two medical cultures.

Documenting Medications: Patients' Demand, Physicians' Virtuosity, and Genre-Mixing of Prescription-Cases (Fang'an) in Seventeenth-Century China.

Xianxingzhai guang biji ('Expanded Notes from the Studio of Early Enlightenment') is a Chinese medical case collection based primarily on the interaction between the physician Miao Xiyong and his patients. Professional interest alone, however, cannot explain the unique combination of cases with detailed prescriptions. Rather, elite patients played a crucial role in collecting and publishing these cases, driven in part by the need to prepare their own medications at home. Physicians then reciprocated by sharing their prescriptions for patronage, thereby fashioning a more flexible style of medical virtuosity. Finally, both patients and physicians grappled with the unbounded possibilities and dangers presented by novel illnesses and cures. This episode anticipates the consolidation of recipe-cases (fang'an) as a stable didactic genre by the eighteenth century.

The Medicinal Usage and Restriction of Ginseng in Britain and America, 1660-1900.

This article demonstrates the medicinal usage of ginseng in the West from 1660 to 1914. Asian[Korea] ginseng was first introduced into England in the early 17th century, and North American ginseng was found in the early 18th century. Starting from the late 17th century doctors prescribed ginseng to cure many different kinds of ailments and disease such as: fatigue general lethargy, fever, torpidity, trembling in the joints, nervous disorder, laughing and crying hysteria, scurvy, spermatic vessel infection, jaundice, leprosy, dry gripes and constipation, strangury, yellow fever, dysentery, infertility and addictions of alcohol, opium and tobacco, etc. In the mid-18th century Materia Medica began to specify medicinal properties of ginseng and the patent medicines containing ginseng were widely circulated. However, starting in the late 18th century the medicinal properties of ginseng began to be disparaged and major pharmacopoeias removed ginseng from their contents. The reform of the pharmacopoeia, influenced by Linnaeus in botany and Lavoisier in chemistry, introduced nomenclature that emphasized identifying ingredients and active constituents. Western medicine at this period, however, failed to identify and to extract the active constituents of ginseng. Apart from the technical underdevelopment of the period, the medical discourses reveal that the so-called chemical experiment of ginseng were conducted with unqualified materials and without proper differentiation of various species of ginseng.

[The pharmacopoeia of Father Morin in 1864]. / La Pharmacopée de l'abbé Morin en 1864.

The "pharmacopoeia or collection of divine remedies found in the documents of an old rural priest after his death" is a publication of nearly 400 pages including a long list of diseases with their associated treatments, followed by several recipes for the day to day life (such as: how to preserve wine, how to produce Champagne's wine, recipes for filler paste, etc.). A last part, very unique, is dedicated to evil spells, i.e. to diseases that do not have natural explanations and for which Saint Benoit's medal works wonders, according to the author. This pharmacopoeia of 1864 is a typical example of "incoherent collection" mentioned by Tardieu in 1862 concerning clergy and pharmacy. It is, from that point of view, the archetype that pharmacists wanted to see disappearing after the law of germinal year XI (1803), but that persisted until the beginning of the XXth century: the illegal practice of pharmacy by priests and nuns.

[Penicher: an manuscript addendum to his pharmacopoeia of 1695 on the copy of Pharmacy College Library]. / Penicher: un addendum manuscrit à sa pharmacopée de 1695 sur l'exemplaire de la bibliothèque du Collège de Pharmacie.

Penicher's pharmacopeia (1695) was part of the Library of the "College de Pharmacie". The inventory of this Library was done in 1780 and is kept by the Library of the BIU Santé, Paris-Descartes University in Paris that digitized it recently. This copy contains handwritten texts that complete the original edition. The first main addition, at the beginning of the document, is three recipes of drugs, in Latin, one of them being well known at the early 18th century, the vulnerary balm of Leonardo Fioraventi (1517-1588), that is also known as Fioraventi's alcoholate. This product will still be present in the French Codex until 1949. The Penicher' book also includes, at the end, three handwritten pages in French which represent the equipment of apothecaries. These drawings are very close to the ones of Charas' Pharmacopeia. One can think that these additions are from the second part of the 18th century, but before the gift of the pharmacopeia to the College de Pharmacie by Fourcy en 1765. The author is unknown but he is probably one of the predecessor of Fourcy in Pharmacie de l'Ours (Bear's pharmacy). This gift done by Fourcy when joining the Community of Parisians pharmacists did not prevent the fact that Fourcy was sentenced by his colleagues pharmacists, a few years later, for the sales of "Chinese specialties" that someone called Jean-Daniel Smith, a physician installed in Paris, asked him to prepare.

[Analysis on the unearthed Khotanese remaining prescription P. 2899v in the Library Grottoes at Dunhuang].

Khotanese remaining prescription P. 2889v was written in Khotanese.Because of the affinity between Khotan and Dunhuang, thus it appeared in the Dunhuang Library Grottoes.Traditional Indian medical work Siddhasara copied around 982 and composed in Khotanese also unearthed in Dunhuang.It is speculated that the copy time of P. 2889v is slightly earlier than 982. The third formula prescription in P. 2889v is similar to the Kalyanaka found in the Siddhasara and Daji Medicinal Oil Pill recorded in the Volume of Tibetan Medicine of the Chinese Medical Encyclopedia, demonstrating that this prescription had been circulating in the western region and Tibet, which indicates the spread of the Indian Ayurveda medicine in western China with profound influences.