Pharmacographia / A history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India

Porta, Giovanni Battista, 1539(?)-1615, a distinguished Napolitan nobleman. Of his remarkable works we have before us—De distillatione, lib. ix. Romæ 1608, 154 pp. It is partly contained also in Porta’s Magiæ naturalis libri xx, 1589, yet not in the earlier editions of the Magia, the first of which appeared in 1558. Another work of the same author, the Phytognomica, Naples, 1583, may be mentioned as one of the chief works treating on the “Doctrine of Signatures.” There are several editions of it, usually containing the curious figures of the tubers of orchids as especially connected with that superstitious doctrine.

See pages 118. 263. 385. 479. 526. 580. 653. 655.

Præpositus, Nicolaus, one of the eminent physicians of the school of Salerno (see S.) living in the first half of the 12th century. He gives in his Antidotarium, first edition, Venetiis 1471, the composition of about 150 medicines, which were much used, under his name, during the following centuries. They are enumerated in Choulant’s book, mentioned p. 751 before.

Pun-tsao, a great Chinese herbal, written by Le-she-chin, in the middle of the 16th century. It consists of 40 thin octavo volumes, the first three of which contain about 1,100 woodcuts. For more exact information consult Hanbury, Science Papers, 212 et seq.

See pages 4. 76. 83. 167. 510. 520.

Ramusio, Giovanni Battista.—Terza editione delle navigationi e viaggi raccolti già da G. B. Ramusio, 3 vol. fol. Venetia, 1554. A valuable collection of accounts of mediæval travellers, chiefly Italian.

See page 4.

Ray (Wray, or Rajus) John, 1628-1705, a clergyman and distinguished botanist. His Herbarium is preserved in the British Museum. Historia plantarum, 3 vols., folio, London, 1686-1704.

See pages 254. 277. 481. 482. 615. 731. 740.

Redi, Francesco, a physician of Arezzo, who lived at Florence. Esperienze intorno a diverse cose naturali e particularmente a quelle che ci son portate dell’ India. Firenze, 1671.

See pages 24. 111. 287.

Rhazes (Abu Bekr Muhammad ben Zakhariah Alrazi) from Raj, in the Persian province Chorassan, where he was a physician to the hospital and subsequently at Bagdad; died a.d. 923 or 932.

See pages 3. 271. 393. 642. 716.

Rheede tot Draakestein, Hendrik Adriaan van, 1636-1691, Dutch governor of Malabar. He ordered the most conspicuous plants of India to be figured and to be described, mostly by Jan Commelin, professor of botany at Amsterdam. This great and valuable work is the Hortus indicus malabaricus, 12 vols. folio, Amstelodami 1678-1703, with 794 plates.

See pages 130. 189. 211. 297. 403. 421. 425. 547. 565. 580. 644. 677. 726.

Ricettario Fiorentino; one of the earliest, if not the very first, printed Pharmacopœia published by authority. It bears title: Ricettario di dottori dell’ arte, e di medicina del collegio Fiorentino all’ instantia delli Signori Consoli della universita delli speciali. Firenze, 1498. Folio. We have referred to the edition of 1567, printed at “Fiorenza, Nella Stamperia dei Giunti 1574.” There are other editions of that Florentine Pharmacopœia down to the year 1696.

See pages 40. 410. 706.

Roteiro. The account of the famous expedition of Vasco da Gama to the Cape (22nd November, 1497), due to one of his companions, Alvaro Velho. The author enumerates in his remarkable pamphlet (see title at page 496) several spices and drugs of India, stating their prices there and in Alexandria. See also Heyd, Geschichte des Levantehandels, ii. (1879) 507.

See pages 404. 496.

Ruel, or Ruellius, also de la Rouelle, Jean. 1474-1537. Physician at Soissons, lastly canon at Paris. De natura stirpium libri iii. Parisiis, 1536. Folio. (See also Scribonius Largus.)

See pages 31. 388.

Ruiz, Hipolito. 1754-1816. A Spanish botanist, in 1777 appointed director of the celebrated exploration of Peru and Chile. (See also Pavon.)

See pages 79. 345. 590.

Rumphius (Rumpf), Georg Eberhard, 1627-1702. Dutch governor of Amboina. He figured and described 715 plants of that island in the Herbarium amboinense, 7 vols., Amstelodami, 1741-1755, folio, 696 plates.

See pages 130. 189. 211. 278. 297. 336. 421. 565. 600. 673. 726. 749.

Saladinus, of Ascoli (probably Ascoli di Satiano in the Capitanata, Apulia), physician to one of the Princes of Tarentum (and apparently also to the grand constable of Naples, Prince Giovanni Antonio de Balzo Ursino). He is the author of the “Compendium aromatariorum Saladini, principis tarenti dignissimi medici, diligenter correctum et emendatum. Impressum in almo studio Bononiensi, 1488;” 4°. 58 pages. Further on, the author calls himself Dominus Saladinus de Esculo, Serenitatis Principis Tarenti phisicus principalis. At the end of his pamphlet he gives the list of drugs “communiter necessariis et usitatis in qualibet aromataria vel apotheca.” ... This book intended for the druggists, aromatarii, was written between a.d. 1442 and 1458, as shown by Hanbury, Science Papers, 358.

See pages 148. 183. 225. 377. 388. 456. 582. 585. 600.

Salerno, the school of medicine. During the middle ages, from about the 9th century, there were flourishing in the said Italian town a large number of distinguished medical practitioners and teachers. It is one of their merits to have transmitted the medical art and knowledge of the Arabs to mediæval Europe.—See also Alphita, Constantinus Africanus, Platearius, Nicolaus Præpositus. That once famous institution continued an obscure existence even down to the year 1811, when it was suppressed, November 29th, by order of Napoleon.—See pages 31. 225. 321. 334. 377. 690.

Sanudo, Marino, a well informed Venetian writer, author of (1) Vite de duchi di Venezia, in Muratori, Scriptores rerum italicarum xxii. (Mediolani, 1733) 954 et seq. (2) Marinus Sanutus dictus Torsellus Patricius Venetus, Liber Secretorum fidelium crucis super terræ sanctæ recuperatione et conservatione, in Orientalis Historiæ, tom ii. (Hanoviæ, 1611) 22; lib. i. part i. cap. 1. The latter work contains, at page 23, a classified list of eastern drugs; among the most valuable spices, Sanudo mentions cloves, cubebs, mace, nutmegs, spikenard; among those less costly, cinnamon, ginger, olibanum, pepper.

See pages 245. 636.

Scribonius Largus, a Roman physician of the first century of our era. He accompanied, in a.d. 43, the emperor Claudius when he attempted the definite conquest of the island of Britain. Scribonius is the author of the valuable book, Compositiones Medicamentorum seu Compositiones medicæ, the earliest edition of which is due to Ruel, Paris, 1529.

See pages 6. 35. 42. 147. 179. 219. 245. 331. 493. 503.

Simon Januensis—See pages 6. 44. 582. 652.

Sloane, Sir Hans, 1660-1753. In 1687 physician to the governor of Barbados and Jamaica. His library and large collections of natural history formed the nucleus of the British Museum. He wrote (1) Catalogus plantarum quæ in insula Jamaica sponte proveniunt vel vulgo coluntur ... adjectis aliis quibusdam, quæ in insulis Maderæ, Barbados, Nieves et St. Christophori nascuntur, Londini, 1696. (2) A voyage to the islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St. Christophers and Jamaica. London, 1707-1725, fol.

See pages 18. 73. 188. 203. 288. 591. 615. 629. 710.

Susruta. The author of “Ayurvedas,” i.e. the book of health, an old Sanskrit medical work in which a large number of eastern drugs are mentioned. It was first printed in the original language at Calcutta, 2 vols., 1835-1836, and afterwards translated under the name Susrutas Ayurvedas, id est medicinæ systema a venerabili D’hanvantare demonstratum, a Susruta discipulo compositum. Nunc primum ex Sanskrita in Latinum sermonem vertit.... Fr. Hessler, Erlangæ, 3 vols., 1844-1850. And by the same translator, Commentarii et annotationes in Susrutæ ayurvedam, 1852-1855. Susruta was once supposed to have written centuries before Christ, but chiefly the researches of Prof. Haas, London, in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, xxx. (1876) 617 sqq. and xxxi. (1877) 647, make it not improbable that the Sanskrit “Susruta” might have been generated from the Greek Hippokrates by way of the intermediate form “Bukrat.” The oldest testimony as to the time of Susruta (and Charaka, see before) is the statement of Ibn Abu Oseibiah, in the 13th century, that Susruta had been translated into Arabic about the end of the 8th century.

See pages 154. 188. 211. 225. 295. 315. 421. 425. 436. 503. 547. 572. 644.

Tabernæmontanus, Jacob Theodor, physician at Heidelberg; died a.d. 1590. A pupil of Tragus.—Neuw Kreuterbuch, Frankfurt, 1588, folio; second part, 1591, both with fig. Later editions, also in German, by Caspar Bauhin and Hieronymus Bauhin. Latin translation, Eicones plantarum seu stirpium ... Francofurti, 1590, with 2225 engravings.

See pages 308. 390. 731.

Talbor, or also Tabor, Robert, 1642-1681. This singular personage having been apprenticed to Dear, an apothecary of Cambridge, settled in Essex, where he practised medicine with much success. He afterwards came to London, and in 1672 published a small book called Πυρετολογία, a rational account of the cause and cure of agues (London, 12°). As stated at page 344, he was appointed physician to the king, and on 27th July of the same year, received the honour of knighthood at Whitehall. But he was not a member of the College of Physicians; and to save him from attack, Charles II. caused a letter to be written restraining that body from interfering with him in his medical practice. (Baker, l.c. at page 344, note 1). The appointment as royal physician, made in consideration of “good and acceptable services performed,” led to the issuing of a patent under the Privy Seal, dated 7th August, 1678, granting to Sir Robert Talbor an annuity of £100 per annum, together with the profits and privileges appertaining to a physician in ordinary to the sovereign. In 1679 Talbor visited France and Spain, as recorded in the Recueil des nouvelles etc. pendant l’année 1679 (Paris, 1780) 466 (this includes the Gazette de France, 23rd Sept., 1679). The journey to Spain he made in the suite of the young queen of Spain, Louise d’Orléans, niece of Louis XIV., of whom he is described as premier médecin. During Talbor’s absence, his practice in London was carried on by his brother, Dr. John Talbor, as is proved by an advertisement in the True News or Mercurius Anglicus, January 7-10, 1679. In France Talbor had the good fortune to cure the Dauphin of an attack of fever, and also treated with success other eminent persons. (See Lettres de Madame de Sévigné, nouv. ed. tome v., 1862, 559; also tome vi., letters of 15th and 29th Sept, and 6th Oct. 1679.) The physicians both in England and France were exceedingly jealous of the successes of an irregular practitioner like Talbor, and averse to admit the merits of his practice. Yet D’Aquin, first physician to Louis XIV., prescribed Vin de Quinquina, as well as powdered bark, for the king in 1686.—See J. A. Le Roi, J. Journal de la santé du roi Louis XIV., Paris, 1862. 171. 431. But Talbor’s happy results brought him into favour with Louis XIV., who induced him, in consideration of a sum of 2,000 louis d’or and an annual pension of 2,000 livres, to explain his mode of treatment, which proved to consist in the administration of considerable doses of cinchona bark infused in wine, as will be seen in the pamphlet: Les admirables qualitez du Kinkina confirmées par plusieurs expériences, Paris, 1689. 12°. Talbor did not long enjoy his prosperity, for he died in 1681, aged about 40 years. He was buried in Trinity Church, Cambridge, where a monumental inscription describes him as—“Febrium malleus” and physician to Charles II., Louis XIV, and the Dauphin of France. In Talbor’s will, proved by his widow, Dame Elizabeth Talbor, alias Tabor, relict and executrix, 18th Nov. 1861, and preserved at Doctors’ Commons, mention is made of an only son, Philip Louis.

See page 344.

Theophrastos Eresios, of Eresos, in the island of Lesbos, about 370-285 b.c. The earliest botanical author in Europe, having consigned in his works, written about the year 314 b.c. or later, an admirable amount of excellent observations, either of his own, or, as many suggest, originated from Aristotle. Among the numerous editions of Theophrast’s works (printed as early as a.d. 1483) we may point out Wimmer’s Latin translations, tom. i. Historia plantarum, tom. ii. De Causis plantarum. Leipzig, 1854; or the French edition of the same translator, Théophraste, Oeuvres complètes. Paris, 1866, Firmin Didot.

See pages 42. 97. 136. 142. 146. 147. 161. 166. 175. 179. 234. 259. 292. 310. 321. 393. 418. 439. 519. 529. 567. 576. 595. 598. 620. 644. 661. 664. 677. 690. 715. 723. 733.

Tournefort, Joseph Pitton de, 1656-1708. Important as are his attempts to establish a scientific classification of plants, his merits as a careful observer (1700-1702) of eastern plants are of still more weight from a pharmaceutical standpoint. The latter is evidenced by his Relations d’un voyage du Levant.... Paris, 1717, 2 vols.

See pages 163. 175.

Tragus (Bock), Hieronymus, 1498-1554. A friend and pupil of Brunfels (see B.), protestant clergyman at Hornbach, near Zweibrücken, Bavarian Palatinate. He gave remarkably good descriptions of the indigenous plants, with figures, in his “Kreuterbuch,” the best edition of which was published in German at Strassburg, a.d. 1551, and a translation in 1552: Hieronymi Tragi, de stirpium, maxime earum quæ in Germania nostra nascuntur usitatis nomenclaturis, etc. libri très.

See pages 170. 295. 384. 388. 434. 450. 456. 469. 540. 665. 676. 694. 699. 731. 734.

Turner, William, born at Morpeth, Northumberland (date not known), died 1568. In 1538 he was a student of theology and medicine in Pembroke College, Cambridge. Turner lived many years in Germany, and was an intimate friend of Conrad Gesner. The “New Herball, wherein are contayned the names of herbes in Greeke, Latin, ... and in the potecaries and herbaries ... with the properties etc., by William Turner, London, 1551; the seconde parte, Collen (Cologne), 1562; the third parte, London, 1568,” is the earliest scientific work on botany in the English literature. To its author is also due the foundation of the Kew Gardens.

See pages 292. 378. 480. 556. 568. 571. 729.

Vasco da Gama—See Roteiro.

Vegetius Renatus. A treatise on veterinary medicine, written apparently about the beginning of the 5th century of our era, is attributed to an author of the above name. See Choulant, p. 223 of the work quoted before (p. 751).

See pages 175. 380.

Vignolius—See Liber pontificalis.

Vindicianus, physician to the Emperor Valentinianus I., about a.d. 364-375. For further information see Choulant’s work (quoted at p. 751), p. 215; also Haller, Bibl. bot. i. 151.

See page 559.

Natural Orders are printed in small capitals, as Acanthaceæ: headings of articles in thick type, as Ammoniacum.