2 MATERIA MEDICA 



drugs. Applied pharmacognosy ascertains the relative quality of a 

 drug by determining the proportion in which one or more of these 

 constituents is present. 



History. Although it is only within very recent years that 

 pharmacognosy has substantiated its claim to rank as a science, the 

 collection of herbs for medicinal use is of the remotest antiquity. 

 Ancient Egyptian papyri, of which that of Ebers written about 

 1600 B.C. is the most important and most complete, prove that even 

 at this early period the physicians were in possession of a very con- 

 siderable number of drugs, including aloes, acacia gum, myrrh, Indian 

 hemp, hemlock, opium, frankincense, cassia, cummin, coriander, 

 castor seed, and many others. But as far as Western nations are 

 concerned, Greece may be regarded as the cradle of medicine. About 

 the middle of the twelfth century before the Christian era temples 

 were built which served as centres for the exercise of the healing 

 art. Most famous among these were the temples of the deified 

 ^Esculapius at Epidaurus, Cos, Trika, and Pergamos. At these 

 temples, which were usually situated on high ground in pure air, cures 

 were effected chiefly by hygienic means such as massage, baths, &c. 

 Pythagoras (580 B.C.) added to this hygienic treatment the use of 

 such drugs as squill and mustard. Hippocrates (B.C. 466), who 

 placed the treatment of disease on a more rational basis, was familiar 

 with numerous indigenous as well as exotic drugs, with many of 

 which he doubtless became acquainted during his travels. Worm- 

 wood, acacia gum, chamomile, cinnamon, hemlock, gentian, henbane, 

 myrrh, rhubarb, and many others were well known to him. 



Theophrastus (about 370 B.C.) was a pupil of Aristotle, after 

 whose death he became chief of the Aristotelian school. He 

 enumerates some 500 plants which were known to him, distinguished 

 cinnamon from cassia, and was acquainted with ergot. It was during 

 this period (335-325 B.C.) that Alexander the Great undertook 

 his expeditions to Persia, India, and Africa, as the result of which 

 numerous treasures, and among them drugs, were brought back to 

 Greece. 



Alexander founded Alexandria, which he intended to become 

 the seat of the learning and commerce of the world. Although 

 science in Egypt had fallen so low that the Greeks learnt but little 

 from the Egyptians, the Alexandrian school was invaluable in pre- 

 serving and transmitting to posterity the writings of Greek and other 

 authors. 



After the death of Alexander the Roman Empire rose. During 

 this period Dioscorides, who was a Greek by birth, travelled in Egypt, 

 Africa, Spain, Italy, and Syria, where he became acquainted with a 

 great variety of plants and drugs. His observations and knowledge 

 he placed on record in a compendious work on pharmacognosy which 



