Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

done on any “new” product:
1. The drug must be free from any extraneous accidental quality, e.g.
heat or cold.
2. It must be used on a simple, not a composite, disease, i.e. only a
single disease entity.
3. The drug must be tested with two contrary types of diseases,
because sometimes a drug cures one disease by its essential
qualities and another by its accidental ones.
4. The potency of the drug must correspond to the strength of the
disease. For example, there are some drugs whose “heat” is less
than the “coldness” of certain diseases, and therefore would have no
effect on them.
5. The time of action must be observed, so that essence and action
are not confused.
6. The effect of the drug must be seen to occur constantly or in many
cases, for if this did not happen, then it only constitutes an accidental
effect.
7. The experimentation must be done with the human body, for
testing a drug on a lion or a horse might not prove anything about its
effect on man (Tschanz, 1997).
In his ‘Canon of Medicine’ paragraph 355 Avicenna says:
‘There are four orders of medicaments–whether eaten, or taken in
the fluid state, or whether given by inunction:
The first degree. The action of the quality of a medicament on the
body is imperceptible to the senses. Thus warming or cooling
effects not perceived by the senses unless it is given repeatedly,
or in large doses.
The second degree. A greater degree of action, without
perceptibly interfering with the functions of the body or changing
their natural course (excepting incidentally, or because given in
large doses).
The third degree. There is evident interference with function, but
not markedly enough to produce breakdown or death of tissue.
The fourth degree. Destruction or death of tissue is produced.
This is the degree produced by poisons. A poison is lethal in all
respects (that is, in all parts of its “substance”).’
The four drugs are mentioned: hyoscyamus, hellebore, mercury and
opium (Gruner, 1930). The last ‘dulls the intellect, impairs