Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

in Europe for the regulation of medical practice ‘whosoever will
henceforth practise medicine let him present himself to our officials
and judges to be examined by them.’ He used mercury as an external
remedy and Abramowitz says ’Toxic symptoms such as foetid breath,
stomatitis, angina, intestinal and nervous manifestations had already
been noted by the Arabs.’ (Abramowitz, 1934).
1151–1158 Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), the abbess known as the ‘Healer
of the Rhine’, authored the ‘Liber subtilitatum diversarum naturarum
creaturarum’ (A book of the diverse fine distinctions between natural
creatures), between 1151 and 1158. Her work contained about 140
herbs and described their medicinal uses. Soon after Hildegard’s death
it was divided into two parts, known as the ‘Physica’ (Natural history),
also known as ‘Liber simplicis medicinae’ (Book of simple medicine),
and the ‘Causae et Curae’ (Causes and cures), also known as ‘Liber
compositae medicinae’ (Book of compound medicine). This reflects the
traditional division of the materia medica into ‘Simplicia’ and
‘Composita’. Liber simplicis medicinae, called ‘Physica’ The Physica
consists of nine sections or books, the first and longest comprising
accounts of more than two hundred plants. There were books devoted
to the elements (earth, water and air), trees, precious stones, fish,
birds, mammals, reptiles, and metals. The medical uses of these
objects described in a predominant way–however, with descriptions
often being reduced to statements of their four cardinal properties - that
is, whether they are hot, dry, wet, or cold ‘In what way are the fruits of
nature advantageous or disadvantageous to my health, help at healing
its brokenness and in what way are they to be used for that purpose?’
She provided recipes for over 2000 remedies (Milot et al., 1998).
1151–1162 ‘Kitāb a-Munjih fi al-tibb wa-al-tadāwī min sunuf al-Amrad Wa-al-
Shakaua’ [Success in medicine and in therapy among the categories
of diseases and complaints] by Ibrāhīm ibn Abī Sa’īd ibn Ibrāhīm al-
‘Alā’ī. This was a medical treatise with 28 chapters. Within each
chapter the medicaments are listed that begin with the given letter,
and, for each item, 16 categories of information are supplied: 1.
name, 2. quality, 3. type, 4. preferred state, 5. temperament, 6.
strength, 7. usefulness for parts of the head, 8. usefulness for
respiratory ailments, 9. usefulness for the digestive organs, 10.
usefulness for the body as a whole, 11. manner of production, 12.
how much is to be used, 13. harmful properties, 14. antidote, 15.
substitute, and 16. number assigned the medicament in the treatise
(a total of 550). The last category is omitted in those copies that are