Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

ounce, so with that I give every day one friction, or once in two days,
according to the temperature and strength of the patient, the which
must be considered by the skilful chirurgian.’
1596 Li Shi-Zhen wrote: ‘Běncao Gāngmù’ or ‘Pen-ts’ao Kang-mu ‘
(WG).[The Compendium of Materia Medica] or more literally
‘Guidelines and details on roots (Ben) and herbs (Cao)’ which is a
1596 pharmaceutical text written by the Ming Dynasty physician Li Shi-
Zhen (1518–1592) in 1579. The Bencao Gangmu is regarded as the
most complete medical book written in the history of traditional Chinese
medicine. It describes 1892 drugs and includes 11, 096 prescriptions
and lists all the plants, animals, minerals, and other objects that were
believed to contain medicinal properties. It states: ‘On account of the
fact that sanqi is an herb belonging to the xue (blood) phase of the
yangming and jueyin meridians, it can treat all diseases of the blood.’
There are two basic types of adverse responses reported. One is an
oesophagitis that appears to occur as a result of consuming tablets of
sanqi without drinking much water. The tablet may directly contact the
tissues and cause some irritation or might lead to some acid reflux;
there were two such cases reported. The other, more frequent,
problem is with allergic reactions. These include dermatitis (allergic
exanthema), shock, purpura, blisters, or other reactions of idiosyncratic
nature. It warned that mercury could cause convulsions and gingivitis
(Leung, 1990).
1597 John Gerard’s (1545–1612) ‘The Herball or General Historie of
Plantes’, 1404 pages.
’Organy cures them that have been poisoned by drinking Opium, or
the juice of Black Poppy or Hemlock, especially if it be given with
Wine and Raisons of the Sunne.’ It has been said that most of his
book was a translation of Dodoens Herball (above). First published in
1597, it was republished in 1633 revised and enlarged by Thomas
Johnson in an edition that retained much of the original Elizabethan
text. The 1633 edition contains some 2850 descriptions of plants and
about 2700 illustrations. It was divided into three volumes including
an appendix.
Deadly Nightshade: Gerard called the plant the lethal olanum or
sleepy nightshade (Atropa belladonna). He recounts three cases of
poisoning with the berries and instructs the readers of his herball
‘Banish therefore these pernicious plants out of your gardens, and all
places near to your houses, where children or women with child do
resort, which do oftentimes long and lust after things most vile and