4. • On
June
7,
1774,
physicians
at
Pennsylvania
Hospital
aBended
a
meeDng
of
the
Board
of
Managers
and
heard
a
proposal
to
establish
a
Botanical
Garden
on
the
hospital
grounds.
Such
a
proposal
pleased
them
mighDly
as
a
garden
of
this
kind
would
provide
physicians
with
a
ready
source
of
ingredients
for
the
medical
remedies
of
the
period,
almost
all
of
which
were
based
on
plant
material.
For
a
variety
of
reasons,
chiefly
financial,
the
Botanical
Garden
did
not
become
a
reality
unDl
1976,
200
years
aSer
the
original
proposal,
when
it
was
"generously
executed"
as
a
Bicentennial
project
by
the
Philadelphia
CommiBee
of
the
Garden
Club
of
America
and
friends
of
Pennsylvania
Hospital,
including
physicians
and
other
staff
members.
5. • Greek
concept
of
four
basic
elements
[fire,
air,
water,
and
earth]
and
corresponding
humors:
– Blood
– Phlegm
– Black
bile
– Yellow
bile
Physician’s
job
to
maintain
balance
by
bleeding,
purging,
emeDcs,
blistering,
poisoning
[i.e.
herbs]
6. Beginnings
of
botanical
science
• During
the
16th
and
17th
centuries
the
first
plants
were
being
imported
to
major
Western
European
gardens
from
Eastern
Europe
and
nearby
Asia
(which
provided
many
bulbs)
and
these
found
a
place
in
the
new
gardens
where
they
could
be
conveniently
studied
by
the
plant
experts
of
the
day.
• For
example,
Asian
introducDons
were
described
by
Carolus
Clusius
(1526
–
1609)
who
was
director,
in
turn,
of
the
Botanical
Garden
of
the
University
of
Vienna
and
Hortus
Botanicus
Leiden.
• Many
plants
were
being
collected
from
the
Near
East,
especially
bulbous
plants
from
Turkey.
7. • Herbalism
reached
its
first
major
peak
in
Europe
in
1652
when
Dr
Nicolas
Culpeper
published
his
book,
The
English
Physician,
• Filled
with
some
300
herbs,
drawings,
and
their
medicinal
uses.
He
is
considered
by
many,
to
be
the
father
of
alternaDve
medicine.
8.
9.
10. 18th
century
methods
for
producing
herbal
remedies
• Tincture:
herb
is
soaked
in
alcohol,
strained
and
used.
• DecocDon:
This
method
was
used
for
tougher
parts
of
the
herb
plants,
the
roots,
stem
and
bark.
The
herb
is
boiled
in
water
unDl
water
is
reduced
by
1/2
to
1/3.
• Infusion:
Immersing
the
herb
in
water
as
in
the
leaves.
Don’t
boil
herbs.
Use
one
rounded
spoon
of
infusion:
Immersing
the
herb
in
water
as
in
tea.
• DisDlled:
Infusing
the
herb
with
water,
boiling
same
and
catching
the
condensed
steam.
Makes
a
condensed
form
of
an
infusion.
11. HOREHOUND
• Used
to
make
a
cough
syrup.
OSen
used
with
honey
and
other
herbs.
Mixed
with
plaintain
for
snakebites.
Soaked
in
fresh
milk
to
repel
flies.
The
leaves
are
used
for
flavoring
beer,
cough
drops,
honey
and
for
making
tea.
Leaves
should
be
gathered
just
before
the
flowers
open.
• To
make
candy,
steep
two
heaping
teaspoons
of
dried
horehound
in
one-‐cup
water
for
half
an
hour.
Strain.
Put
the
leaves
in
a
cloth
and
press
or
twist
to
get
the
remaining
flavor.
Add
3
1⁄2
pounds
of
brown
sugar
to
the
water
and
boil
unDl
it
reaches
the
ball
stage.
Pour
into
flat,
well-‐
greased
pans
andmark
into
sDcks
or
squares
with
a
knife.
You
can
adjust
the
taste
by
adding
more
tea.
12. Colonial
herbals
as
modern
medicine
• Seneca
Snakeroot
– A
member
of
the
dogbane
family,
snakeroot
has
been
used
as
a
sedaDve
for
centuries.
The
acDve
element,
reserpine,
is
now
used
in
treaDng
a
variety
of
psychiatric
disorders
and
hypertension.
• Willow
– Tea
made
from
the
bark
of
the
willow
tree
has
been
used
since
the
Romans
for
curing
headaches
or
other
pains.
Its
ingredients,
Salicylates,
is
known
to
us
today
as
aspirin
(acetylsalicylic
acid).
13. Reserpine
The
Columbia
Encyclopedia,
Sixth
EdiGon
|
2008
|
reserpine
,
alkaloid
isolated
from
the
root
of
the
snakeroot
plant
(
Rauwolfia
serpen6na
),
a
small
evergreen
climbing
shrub
of
the
dogbane
family
na6ve
to
the
Indian
subcon6nent.
Known
in
India
as
Sarpaganda,
it
was
used
for
centuries
to
treat
insanity
as
well
as
physical
illnesses
such
as
fevers
and
snakebites.
AEer
its
isola6on
in
1952
it
was
used
to
lower
high
blood
pressure
,
but
its
property
of
producing
severe
depression
as
a
side
effect
also
made
it
useful
in
psychiatry
as
a
tranquilizer
in
the
control
of
agitated
psycho6c
pa6ents.
It
has
largely
been
replaced
in
psychiatric
use
by
the
phenothiazine
tranquilizers,
although
it
is
s6ll
used
as
an
experimental
tool
in
the
study
of
psychosis.
Reserpine
causes
many
toxic
side
effects
including
nightmares,
Parkinsonism
(see
Parkinson's
disease
),
and
gastrointes6nal
disturbances.
