12 Colchicine 



could be dissolved by juices from this plant. Solomon's seal in cross 

 section ot the root looked like the King's seal; hence the plant 

 should be used to seal wounds. Perhaps gout, frequently attacking 

 the fingers, was treated by the hermodactyls since these flowers came 

 up like the fingers of a hand. Recalling that a translation of hermodac- 

 tyl means "fingers of Hermes," the doctrine woidd have provided 

 good basis for treating these ills and aches. 



Emperors, rulers, and the wealthy were most frequently afflicted 

 with gout and arthritic rheumatism. One medical councilor, J. 

 Psychriste, who was attached to the court of the Byzantine rider Leon 

 the Great (457-475 a.d.) , used one single dose of bitter hermodactyl 

 to cure gout.i^ Doctors attached to riding classes found gout a preva- 

 lent disease among these personages, though specific directions for 

 curing gout have not been recognized in most historical records. 

 Colchicuni, or the bitter hermodactyls are usually mentioned as first 

 used in the sixth century. 



Alexander of Trallcs (ca. 560 a.d.) has been credited as the first 

 to advocate fritter hermodactyP'* to alleviate the pains from gout. He 

 used a drastic purgative combining scammony, colcynth, aloes, hermo- 

 dactyls with anise, myrrh, peppers, cinnamon, and ginger. His twelve 

 books on medicine include many references to drug plants. 



The seventh century physician, •'^'^ Paul of Aeginata, recommended 

 the hermodactyls when treating gout or other arthritic complaints. 

 His record is likewise well established by the medical historians. 

 Following him. two Arabian doctors, Rhazes and Avicenna, specifi- 

 cally proposed hermodactyls in cases of gout. The latter wrote from 

 traditional belief and personal experience about the "Souradjan" 

 from Arabia. Undoubtedly this is the same as the surinjan, or bitter 

 hermodactyl, Colchicum liiteum of the Indus River area. The com- 

 bined periods of Paul of Aeginata, Rhazes, and Avicenna extend from 

 the seventh century to 1037 a.d. The translations made by these 

 physicians included many documents dealing with science and medi- 

 cine,^'' and they exerted a profound influence upon medicine generally 

 as well as upon the specific knowledge passed on about gout. 



An extensive treatise on gout dedicated to the Emperor Michael 

 Paleologus was prepared by a famous thirteenth century Greek physi- 

 cian, Demetrius Pepagomeus.'^^ In this account, specific directions 

 were stated for making a pill of hermodactyl, aloes, and cinnamon, 

 to be used in treating podagra. 



From the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, records about gout 

 and drugs are scarce. Confusion embroiled the Greek doctors be- 

 cause of the widespread distrust for Arabian medicine and advice 

 from the East. Others suggest that the stern warnings noted about 

 the toxic property of Cohhicoii . beginning with Theophrastus and 



