Chronicles of Pharmacy, Vol. 1 (of 2)Wootton, A. C.
History
Chronicles of Pharmacy, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Wootton, A. C.
Pharmacy -- History
Mesuë is noted for his opposition to the violent purgative medicines
which the Greek and Roman physicians had made common, and he had much
to do with the popularisation, if not with the introduction of, senna,
cassia, tamarinds, sebestens, myrabolans, and jujube. He modified the
effects of certain remedies by judicious combinations, as, for example,
by giving violet root and lemon juice with scammony. He gave pine bark
and decoction of hyssop as emetics, and recommended the pancreas of the
hare as a styptic in diarrhœa.
A disciple of Mesuë’s, Ebn-Izak, added greatly to the medical resources
of the Arabs by translations of the works of Hippocrates, Galen, Pliny,
Paul of Egineta, and other Greek authors.
Abu-Moussah-Dschafar-Al-Soli, commonly called Geber, the equivalent
of his middle name, is supposed to have lived in the eighth century.
It has already been remarked that the chemical discoveries attributed
to this philosopher were probably the achievements of many workers,
and were afterwards collected and passed on to posterity as his alone.
From him are dated the introduction into science, to be adopted later
in medicine, of corrosive sublimate, of red precipitate, of nitric and
nitro-muriatic acids, and of nitrate of silver.
These chemical discoveries must have been made within the hundred years
from 750 to 850, because Rhazes, who wrote in the latter half of the
ninth century, mentions them. Geber has been supposed to have claimed
to have discovered the philosopher’s stone, and to have made the
universal medicine. But it is not at all certain that he contemplated
medicine at all. His language is highly figurative, and probably when
he says his gold had cured six lepers he meant only that he had, or
thought he had, extracted gold from six baser metals.
Rhazes, whose Europeanised name is the modification of Arrasi, which
was the final member of a long series of Eastern patronymics, was of
Persian birth, and commenced his studies in that country with music
and astronomy. When he was thirty he removed to Bagdad, and it was not
until then that he took up the sciences of chemistry and medicine.
Subsequently he was made director of the hospital of Bagdad, and
his lectures on the medical art were attended by students from many
countries. His principal work was entitled Hhawi, which has been
translated Continent, apparently because it was supposed to contain
all there was to know about medicine. The style of this treatise is
that of notes without method, and it is certain that it could not have
been written entirely by Rhazes, as authorities are named who did not
live until after he had died. The theory is that Rhazes left a quantity
of notes of his lectures and cases, and that some of his disciples
afterwards published them with additions, but without much editing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account