How many books are there on medicinal botany?
This five-volume work is a compilation concerning approximately 500 plants and describes the preparation of about 1000 simple drugs. Written in Greek, it contains good descriptions of plants giving their origins and medical virtues and remained the standard text for 1,500 years.
When did people start using plants for medicine?
People on all continents have long used hundreds, if not thousands, of indigenous plants, for treatment of various ailments dating back to prehistory. Knowledge about the healing properties or poisonous effects of plants, mineral salts, and herbs accumulated from these earliest times to provide health and predates all other medical treatment.
How did Galen contribute to the study of Botany?
Drugs developed by Galen were made from herbs that he collected from all over the world. The studies of botany and medicine became very closely linked during the Middle Ages. Virtually all reading and writing were carried out in monasteries. Monks laboriously copied and compiled the manuscripts.
What was the first medical text written in India?
Written in Greek, it contains good descriptions of plants giving their origins and medical virtues and remained the standard text for 1,500 years. The earliest Ayurvedic texts on medicine from India date from about 2,500 BC. In Ayurvedic theory, illness is seen in terms of imbalance, with herbs and dietary controls used to restore equilibrium.
When did botany and medicine come down the ages?
BOTANY and medicine came down the ages hand in hand until the seventeenth century; then both arts became scientific, their ways parted, and no new herbals were compiled. The botanical books ignored the medicinal properties of plants and the medical books contained no plant lore.
This five-volume work is a compilation concerning approximately 500 plants and describes the preparation of about 1000 simple drugs. Written in Greek, it contains good descriptions of plants giving their origins and medical virtues and remained the standard text for 1,500 years.
What’s the appeal of collecting old medical books?
The appeal of collecting beautiful, old medical books is strong for many book collectors. Medicine has been practised – in one form or another – since the beginning of mankind and many of these practises have been documented in book form.
Who was the first person to study medicinal plants?
Aristotle, the philosopher, also compiled a list of medicinal plants. His best student, Theophrastus discussed herbs as medicines, the kinds and parts of plants used, collection methods, and effects on humans and animals. He started the science of botany with detailed descriptions of medicinal plants growing in the botanical gardens in Athens.
