 Cover of an early printed version,Lyon, 1554 | |
| Author | Pedanius Dioscorides |
|---|---|
| Original title | Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς |
| Language | Greek |
| Subject | Medicinal plants,drugs |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
Publication date | 50–70 CE |
| Publication place | Ancient Rome |
Published in English | 1655 (first English translation) |
| Media type | Manuscript, print |
| Pages | 5 volumes |
| Text | De materia medica atWikisource |
De materia medica (Latin name for theGreek workΠερὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς,Peri hulēs iatrikēs, both meaning "OnMedical Material") is apharmacopoeia ofmedicinal plants and themedicines that can be obtained from them. The five-volume work was written between 50 and 70 CE byPedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the Roman army. It was widely read for more than 1,500 years until supplanted by revisedherbals in theRenaissance, making it one of the longest-lasting of allnatural history andpharmacology books.
The work describes many drugs known to be effective, includingaconite,aloes,colocynth,colchicum,henbane,opium andsquill. In total, about 600 plants are covered, along with some animals and mineral substances, and around 1000 medicines made from them.
De materia medica was circulated as illustrated manuscripts, copied by hand, in Greek, Latin, andArabic throughout themedieval period. From the 16th century onwards, Dioscorides' text was translated intoItalian,German,Spanish,French, and intoEnglish in 1655. It served as the foundation forherbals in these languages by figures such asLeonhart Fuchs,Valerius Cordus,Lobelius,Rembert Dodoens,Carolus Clusius,John Gerard, andWilliam Turner. Over time, these herbals incorporated increasing numbers of direct observations, gradually supplementing and eventually supplanting the classical text.
Several manuscripts and early printed versions ofDe materia medica survive, including the illustratedVienna Dioscurides manuscript written in the original Greek in 6th-centuryConstantinople; it was used there by theByzantines as a hospital text for just over a thousand years.Sir Arthur Hill saw a monk onMount Athos still using a copy of Dioscorides to identify plants in 1934.
Between 50 and 70 AD, a Greek physician in the Roman army,Dioscorides, wrote a five-volume book in his nativeGreek,Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς (Peri hules iatrikēs, "On Medical Material"), known more widely in Western Europe by itsLatin titleDe materia medica. He had studied pharmacology atTarsus inRoman Anatolia (now Turkey).[1] The book became the principal reference work onpharmacology across Europe and the Middle East for over 1,500 years,[2] and was thus the precursor of all modernpharmacopoeias.[3][4]
In contrast to many classical authors,De materia medica was not "rediscovered" in the Renaissance, because it never left circulation; indeed, Dioscorides' text eclipsed theHippocratic Corpus.[5] In the medieval period,De materia medica was circulated in Latin, Greek, and Arabic.[6] In theRenaissance from 1478 onwards, it was printed in Italian, German, Spanish, and French as well.[7] In 1655,John Goodyer made an English translation from a printed version, probably not corrected from the Greek.[8]
While being reproduced in manuscript form through the centuries, the text was often supplemented with commentary and minor additions from Arabic and Indian sources. Several illustrated manuscripts ofDe materia medica survive. The most famous is the lavishly illustratedVienna Dioscurides (theJuliana Anicia Codex), written in the original Greek inByzantine Constantinople in 512/513 AD; its illustrations are sufficiently accurate to permit identification, something not possible with later medieval drawings of plants; some of them may be copied from a lost volume owned by Juliana Anicia's great-grandfather,Theodosius II, in the early 5th century.[9] TheNaples Dioscurides andMorgan Dioscurides are somewhat later Byzantine manuscripts in Greek, while other Greek manuscripts survive today in the monasteries ofMount Athos. Densely-illustrated Arabic copies survive from the 12th and 13th centuries.[10] The result is a complex set of relationships betweenmanuscripts, involving translation, copying errors, additions of text and illustrations, deletions, reworkings, and a combination of copying from one manuscript and correction from another.[11]
De materia medica is the prime historical source of information about themedicines used by theGreeks,Romans, and other cultures of antiquity. The work also records theDacian names for some plants,[12] which otherwise would have been lost. The work presents about 600medicinal plants in all, along with some animals and mineral substances, and around 1,000 medicines made from these sources.[13][14] Botanists have not always found Dioscorides' plants easy to identify from his short descriptions, partly because he had naturally described plants and animals from southeastern Europe, whereas by the 16th century his book was in use all over Europe and across the Islamic world. This meant that people attempted to force a match between the plants they knew and those described by Dioscorides, leading to what could be catastrophic results.[15]
Each entry gives a substantial amount of detail on the plant or substance in question, concentrating on medicinal uses but giving such mention of other uses (such as culinary) and help with recognition as considered necessary. For example, on the "Mekon Agrios and Mekon Emeros",[16] theopium poppy and related species, Dioscorides states that the seed of one is made into bread: it has "a somewhat long little head and white seed", while another "has a head bending down"[16] and a third is "more wild, more medicinal and longer than these, with a head somewhat long—and they are all cooling."[16] After this brief description, he moves at once into pharmacology, saying that they cause sleep; other uses are to treat inflammation anderysipela, and if boiled with honey to make a cough mixture. The account thus combines recognition, pharmacological effect, and guidance on drug preparation. Its effects are summarized, accompanied by a caution:[16]
A little of it (taken with as much as a grain of ervum) is a pain-easer, a sleep-causer, and a digester, helping coughs and abdominal cavity afflictions. Taken as a drink too often it hurts (making men lethargic) and it kills. It is helpful for aches, sprinkled on with rosaceum; and for pain in the ears dropped in them with oil of almonds, saffron, and myrrh. For inflammation of the eyes it is used with a roasted egg yolk and saffron, and for erysipela and wounds with vinegar; but for gout with women's milk and saffron. Put up with the finger as a suppository it causes sleep.
— Dioscorides—Mekon Agrios and Mekon Emeros[16]
Dioscorides then describes how to tell a good from a counterfeit preparation. He mentions the recommendations of other physicians, Diagoras (according to Eristratus), Andreas, and Mnesidemus, only to dismiss them as false and not borne out by experience. He ends with a description of how the liquid is gathered frompoppy plants, and lists names used for it:chamaesyce,meconrhoeas,oxytonon;papaver to the Romans, andwanti to the Egyptians.[16]
As late as in theTudor andStuart periods in Britain, herbals often still classified plants in the same way as Dioscorides and other classical authors, not by their structure or apparent relatedness but by how they smelt and tasted, whether they were edible, and what medicinal uses they had.[17] Only when European botanists likeMatthias de l'Obel,Andrea Cesalpino andAugustus Quirinus Rivinus (Bachmann) had done their best to match plants they knew to those listed in Dioscorides did they go further and create newclassification systems based on similarity of parts, whether leaves, fruits, or flowers.[18]
The book is divided into five volumes. Dioscorides organized the substances by certain similarities, such as their being aromatic, or vines; these divisions do not correspond to any modern classification. In David Sutton's view the grouping is by the type of effect on the human body.[19]
Volume I covers aromatic oils, the plants that provide them, and ointments made from them. They include what are probablycardamom,nard,valerian,cassia orsenna,cinnamon,balm of Gilead,hops,mastic,turpentine,pine resin,bitumen,heather,quince,apple,peach,apricot,lemon,pear,medlar,plum and many others.[20]
Volume II covers an assortment of topics: animals including sea creatures such assea urchin,seahorse,whelk,mussel,crab,scorpion,electric ray,viper,cuttlefish and many others; dairy produce;cereals; vegetables such assea kale,beetroot,asparagus; and sharp herbs such asgarlic,leek,onion,caper andmustard.[21]
Volume III covers roots, seeds and herbs. These include plants that may berhubarb,gentian,liquorice,caraway,cumin,parsley,lovage,fennel and many others.[22]
Volume IV describes further roots and herbs not covered in Volume III. These include herbs that may bebetony,Solomon's seal,clematis,horsetail,daffodil and many others.[23]
Volume V covers the grapevine, wine made from it, grapes and raisins; but also strong medicinal potions made by boiling many other plants includingmandrake,hellebore, and various metal compounds, such as what may bezinc oxide,verdigris andiron oxide.[24]
Writing inThe Great Naturalists, thehistorian of science David Sutton describesDe materia medica as "one of the most enduring works of natural history ever written"[25] and that "it formed the basis for Western knowledge of medicines for the next 1,500 years."[25]
The historian of scienceMarie Boas writes that herbalists depended entirely on Dioscorides andTheophrastus until the 16th century, when they finally realized they could work on their own.[7] She notes also thatherbals by different authors, such asLeonhart Fuchs,Valerius Cordus,Lobelius,Rembert Dodoens,Carolus Clusius,John Gerard andWilliam Turner, were dominated by Dioscorides, his influence only gradually weakening as the 16th-century herbalists "learned to add and substitute their own observations".[26]
Early science and medicine historian Paula Findlen, writing in theCambridge History of Science: Early Modern Science, callsDe materia medica "one of the most successful and enduring herbals of antiquity, [which] emphasized the importance of understanding the natural world in light of its medicinal efficiency", in contrast toPliny'sNatural History (which emphasized the wonders of nature) or thenatural history studies ofAristotle andTheophrastus (which emphasized the causes of natural phenomena).[27] Medicine historianVivian Nutton, inAncient Medicine, writes that Dioscorides's "five books in Greek On Materia medica attained canonical status in Late Antiquity."[28] Science historian Brian Ogilvie calls Dioscorides "the greatest ancient herbalist", andDe materia medica "thesumma of ancient descriptive botany", observing that its success was such that few other books in his domain have survived from classical times.[29] Further, his approach matched the Renaissance liking for detailed description, unlike the philosophical search for essential nature (as in Theophrastus'sHistoria Plantarum). A critical moment was the decision byNiccolò Leoniceno and others to use Dioscorides "as the model of the careful naturalist—and his bookDe materia medica as the model for natural history."[30]
The Dioscorides translator and editor Tess Anne Osbaldeston notes that "For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the ultimate authority on plants and medicine",[31] and that he "achieved overwhelming commendation and approval because his writings addressed the many ills of mankind most usefully."[31] To illustrate this, she states that "Dioscorides describes many valuable drugs includingaconite,aloes,bitter apple,colchicum,henbane, andsquill".[32] The work mentions the painkillers willow (leading ultimately toaspirin, she writes),autumn crocus andopium, which however is also narcotic. Many other substances that Dioscorides describes remain in modern pharmacopoeias as "minor drugs, diluents, flavouring agents, andemollients ... [such as]ammoniacum,anise,cardamoms,catechu,cinnamon,colocynth,coriander,crocus,dill,fennel,galbanum,gentian,hemlock,hyoscyamus,lavender,linseed, mastic,male fern,marjoram,marshmallow,mezereon,mustard,myrrh,orris (iris),oak galls,olive oil,pennyroyal,pepper,peppermint, poppy,psyllium,rhubarb,rosemary,rue,saffron,sesame, squirting cucumber (elaterium),starch, stavesacre (delphinium),storax,stramonium,sugar,terebinth,thyme,white hellebore,white horehound, andcouch grass—the last still used as ademulcentdiuretic."[32] She notes that medicines such aswormwood,juniper,ginger, andcalamine also remain in use, while "Chinese andIndian physicians continue to useliquorice".[32] She observes that the many drugs listed to reduce thespleen may be explained by the frequency ofmalaria in his time. Dioscorides lists drugs for women to causeabortion and to treaturinary tract infection;palliatives fortoothache, such ascolocynth, and others for intestinal pains; and treatments for skin and eye diseases.[32] As well as these useful substances, she observes that "A fewsuperstitious practices are recorded inDe materia medica,"[32] such as usingEchium as anamulet to ward off snakes, orPolemonia (Jacob's ladder) forscorpion stings.[32]
In the view of the historian Paula De Vos,De materia medica formed the core of the European pharmacopoeia until the end of the 19th century, suggesting that "the timelessness of Dioscorides' work resulted from anempirical tradition based on trial and error; that it worked for generation after generation despite social and cultural changes and changes in medical theory".[5]
AtMount Athos in northern Greece Dioscorides's text was still in use in its original Greek into the 20th century, as observed in 1934 bySir Arthur Hill, Director of theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew:
AtKaryes there is an official Botanist Monk ... he was a remarkable old Monk with an extensive knowledge of plants and their properties. Though fully gowned in a long black cassock he traveled very quickly, usually on foot, and sometimes on a mule, carrying his 'Flora' with him in a large, black, bulky bag. Such a bag was necessary since his 'Flora' was nothing less than four manuscript folio volumes of Dioscorides, which apparently he himself had copied out. This Flora he invariably used for determining any plant which he could not name at sight, and he could find his way in his books and identify his plants—to his own satisfaction—with remarkable rapidity.[33]
Along with his fellow physicians of Ancient Rome,Aulus Cornelius Celsus,Galen,Hippocrates andSoranus of Ephesus, Dioscorides had a major and long-lasting effect onArabic medicine as well as medical practice across Europe.[34][35]De materia medica was one of the first scientific works to be translated from Greek into Arabic (Arabic:Hayūlā ʿilāj al-ṭibb). It was translated first intoSyriac and then into Arabic in 9th century Baghdad.[36][37] The translators were most oftenSyriac Christians, such asHunayn ibn Ishaq, and their work is known to have been sponsored by local rulers, such as theArtuqids.[38]
Manuscript (Or. 289), dated 1083, an illustrated Arabic translation of Dioscurides'De Materia medica. The work was originally translated from Greek into Arabic via Syriac byHunayn ibn Ishaq (810–873) with the collaboration ofStephanus b. Bāsīl between 847–861. This translation was slightly revised byḤusayn b. Ibrāhīm al-Nātilī in 990–991. The current copy is based on an exemplar in the hand of al-Nātilī. The work was offered to the amīr ofSamarqand,Abū ʿAlī al-Simǧūrī. Acquired byLevinus Warner (1619–1665) and bequeathed toLeiden University Library on his death.[39] A digitized version is available via Leiden's Digital Collections.[40]
OneDe materia medica manuscript is dated to 1224, but its provenance is uncertain. It is generally cautiously attributed to "Iraq or Northern Jazira, possibly Baghdad".[41] Its folios have been dispersed among multiple institutions and collectors.
This copy was created by Abd Al-Jabbar ibn Ali in 1229.[42][43]
Dioscorides' treatise described approximately 550 plants ...
Attributed to Iraq or Northern Jazira, possibly Baghdad.
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