The higher state educational establishment of Ukraine

included the problems of medicine, the description of medicinal herbs and drug
preparations. This work is regarded as an encyclopedia of the ancient medical
knowledge.
During Renaissance the fundamentals of medical and biological terminology
were formed. Soon this terminology became international.
In XVII-XVIII centuries there were a lot of botanical terms derived from
Greek and Latin words. It was necessary to find new methods of classifying
different kinds of plants. The Swedish scientist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)
introduced binominal nomenclature, according to which each plant (and animal)
had two names: generic and specific. A generic name is a noun in Nom. and a
specific name is usually an adjective or (seldom) a noun. Depending on how a
specific name is expressed there are five patterns of binominal names:
1. A noun in Nom. + a noun in Nom.: Artemisia absinthium (common
wormwood).
2. A noun in Nom. + a noun in Gen.: Primula veris (primrose).
3. A noun in Nom. + a noun that cannot be declined: Theobroma cacao
(cocoa-tree).
4. A noun in Nom. + a noun with an attribute: Arctostaphylos uva – ursi
(bear berry).
5. A noun in Nom. + an adjective: Crataegus oxyacantha (hawthorn).
In the nomenclature of drug preparations the plants usually have only one
name: generic or specific.
If the botanical name corresponds to the first, third or fourth pattern, the
name of medicinal substance (that is the pharmaceutical name of the plant) is as a
rule a specific name. If the botanical name corresponds to the second or the fifth
pattern, the name of medicinal substance is a generic name. E. g.:
Pattern Botanical name Pharmaceutical name
Pattern 1 Atropa belladonna Belladonna (deadly nightshade)
5