Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

ecomes disordered, his tongue swells so that it fills his mouth, he
raves and then he is perplexed, he is lazy and lethargic, his sight is
darkened and a violent vertigo affects him. He has difficulty in
breathing, a continuous snoring in his throat, redness of the cheeks,
shivering, violent coldness, and extreme sluggishness. The
extremities become cold, the entire body acquires a yellowishness
and the teeth chatter. When he sleeps and snores, his soul is about
to leave.’
Hellebore ‘There are three kinds of hellebore. One is white. The
black is the worst of them, and the most lethal and most penetrating.
The third kind is blue. 31 .. Whoever eats or drinks it experiences a
serious quinsy in his throat, swelling of the tongue, trembling,
palpitation of the heart, intense shivering, and he is cold so that he
thinks he is in snow, his mind is disordered, often serious prostration
befalls him, he vomits frequently. It is thus not useful for him but, on
the contrary, it injures him. Often many (humoral) mixtures arise so
that his soul departs.’
Black hellebore ‘black hellebore kills dogs and cats especially
whilst white hellebore kills birds.’
White hellebore ‘When a man smells it, he coughs continuously...it
produces a strong thirst, drying of the palate and throat, burning in the
stomach, itching of the rest of the body, persistent tickling, excessive
vomiting to such a degree that it seems to him that his stomach is
drawn upward and the contents of his belly plucked upward, and
perhaps one or both of his hands dry up.’ (Levey, 1966).
857 AD Annales Xantenses for the year 857: ‘Great plague of swollen blisters
consumed the people by a loathsome rot, so that their limbs were
loosened and fell off before death.’ This is possibly the first account
of ergotism.
865–925 AD Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi (Latin: Rhazes) was born
at Rayy in Persia. He wrote ‘Kitab al-Hawi fi al-tibb’ [The
comprehensive book of medicine] that has become known in Latin
under the title ‘Continens Medicinae’. It consisted of 23 volumes. He
tried proposed remedies first on animals in order to evaluate their
effects and side effects. He advised ‘If the physician is able to treat
with nutrients, not medication, then he has succeeded. If, however,
he must use medication, then it should be simple remedies and not
compound ones.’ (Tibi, 2006). He used mercurial compounds as
31 Blue hellebore = This has not been identified