![]() In ancient history, the most prominent writer on plant drugs was Dioscorides, “the father of pharmacognosy,” who, as a military physician and pharmacognosist of Nero's Army, studied medicinal plants wherever he travelled with the Roman Army. In his work “ De re medica” the renowned medical writer Celsus (25 BC–50 AD) quoted approximately 250 medicinal plants such as aloe, henbane, flax, poppy, pepper, cinnamon, the star gentian, cardamom, false hellebore, etc. Owing to his consideration of the said topics, he gained the epithet of “the father of botany,” given that he has great merits for the classification and description of medicinal plants. In the description of the plant toxic action, Theophrast underscored the important feature for humans to become accustomed to them by a gradual increase of the doses. Among others, he referred to cinnamon, iris rhizome, false hellebore, mint, pomegranate, cardamom, fragrant hellebore, monkshood, and so forth. In the books, he generated a classification of more than 500 medicinal plants known at the time. Theophrast (371-287 BC) founded botanical science with his books “De Causis Plantarium”- Plant Etiology and “De Historia Plantarium”-Plant History. The works of Hippocrates (459–370 BC) contain 300 medicinal plants classified by physiological action: Wormwood and common centaury ( Centaurium umbellatum Gilib) were applied against fever garlic against intestine parasites opium, henbane, deadly nightshade, and mandrake were used as narcotics fragrant hellebore and haselwort as emetics sea onion, celery, parsley, asparagus, and garlic as diuretics oak and pomegranate as adstringents. ![]() As regards the plants from the genus Artemisia, which were believed to restore strength and protect health, their name was derived from the Greek word artemis, meaning “healthy.” Herodotus (500 BC) referred to castor oil plant, Orpheus to the fragrant hellebore and garlic, and Pythagoras to the sea onion ( Scilla maritima), mustard, and cabbage. Asteraceae) was named in honor of Elena, who was the centre of the Trojan War. ![]() Some of them were given the names after mythological characters from these epics for instance, Elecampane ( Inula helenium L. In Homer's epics The Iliad and The Odysseys, created circa 800 BC, 63 plant species from the Minoan, Mycenaean, and Egyptian Assyrian pharmacotherapy were referred to. The Ebers Papyrus, written circa 1550 BC, represents a collection of 800 proscriptions referring to 700 plant species and drugs used for therapy such as pomegranate, castor oil plant, aloe, senna, garlic, onion, fig, willow, coriander, juniper, common centaury, etc.Īccording to data from the Bible and the holy Jewish book the Talmud, during various rituals accompanying a treatment, aromatic plants were utilized such as myrtle and incense. ![]() Numerous spice plants used even today originate from India: nutmeg, pepper, clove, etc. The Indian holy books Vedas mention treatment with plants, which are abundant in that country. The Chinese book on roots and grasses “Pen T’Sao,” written by Emperor Shen Nung circa 2500 BC, treats 365 drugs (dried parts of medicinal plants), many of which are used even nowadays such as the following: Rhei rhisoma, camphor, Theae folium, Podophyllum, the great yellow gentian, ginseng, jimson weed, cinnamon bark, and ephedra. It comprised 12 recipes for drug preparation referring to over 250 various plants, some of them alkaloid such as poppy, henbane, and mandrake. The oldest written evidence of medicinal plants’ usage for preparation of drugs has been found on a Sumerian clay slab from Nagpur, approximately 5000 years old. HISTORICAL SOURCES RELEVANT FOR STUDY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS’ USE ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |