Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

ordered pharmacists to prepare drugs reliably–‘forma curiae’,
according to skilled art, and in a uniform, suitable quality ‘We decree
also that the growers of plants meant for medical purposes shall be
bound by a solemn oath that they shall prepare their medicines
conscientiously according to the rules of their art.’ One regulation
which should still be applied today is ‘He (the regularly licensed
physician) must not enter into any business relations with the
apothecary nor must he take any of them under his protection nor
incur any money obligations in their regard.’ (Walsh, 1908; Almuete,
2000).
1197–1248 Abdullah ibn Ahmed ibn al-Baytar, from Malaga in Spain, wrote a
pharmacopoeia ‘Kitab al-Jami` li-mufradat al-adwiyah wa-alaghdhiyah’
[The comprehensive book on materia medica and
foodstuffs], which was an alphabetical guide to over 1400 ‘simples 38 ’
taken from his own observations as well as from 150 written sources
that he names. He composed a book on medicinal substances
entitled ‘Kitāb al-Mughni fī al-adwiyah al-mufrada’h’ [The ultimate in
materia medica].
1249 An early Chinese herbal printed in blocks ‘Zheng-lei Bencao’ [Materia
medica arranged according to pattern] by T’ang Shen-wei.
1253 Yan Yonghe wrote ‘Jishen fang’ [Prescriptions for saving life]. This
was an individually published text. The decoction known as ‘gui pi
tang’ is still used today.
1256 Saint Albertus Magnus (1193–1280), also called Albert the Great, a
German scholastic theologian and scholar. His treatise, ‘De
vegetabilibus libri VII, historiae naturalis pars XVIII’ [Seven books
about vegetables, Natural history Part 8] was written before 1256. He
has paraphrased the ten books of Aristotle’s natural histories.
c1205–1298 The Bishop of Cervia 39 , Theodoric, was the first to attribute salivation
to mercury (Abramowitz, 1934).
13 th century An oath for apothecaries in Basle, Switzerland, was published; it
included the line that drugs should be ‘of such good quality and of
such usefulness that he knows, upon his oath, that it will be good
and useful for the confection what the physician is making.’ (Mez-
Mangold, 1971).
1250–1306 Lanfranco of Milan, who later moved to Paris, wrote ’A most excellent
38 Simples = single herb as opposed to ‘compound’ meaning a mixture of herbs
39 Cervia = city in Emilia-Romana, Italy