Spring Adonis in medical history

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«Elleborus niger» «Schwartz Nießwurtz» - Adonis vernalis . Above left: Gart der Gesundheit 1485. Above center: Hortus sanitatis 1491. Above right: Small distilling book 1500. Below left: Hieronymus Bock 1546. Below right: Hieronymus Bock 1551. Other historical images:

Spring Adonis herb is poisonous and can kill if taken in overdose. In Central Europe the species is endangered and is under nature protection.

Spring Adonis in Medicine. The plant names listed in the herbal books of antiquity, late antiquity and the Middle Ages can only be assigned very uncertainly to the plant species known to us. As a plant species of the northern latitudes, the spring Adonis rose ( Adonis vernalis ) was not known to the ancient and medieval authors of the Mediterranean area. At the turn of the 15th to the 16th century, German-speaking authors therefore looked in vain for an equivalent for this plant species in the old herbal books. In 1485 the Mainz Garden of Health illustrated the chapter Elleborus niger - swartz nyeswortz with a picture of the spring adonis beauty . In 1500 Hieronymus Brunschwig used a similar illustration in his small distilling book to illustrate the chapters Xpi- [Christ-] Wurz Wurtzeln Wasser and Xpi- [Christ-] Wurz Krut Wasser . "Root" does not only stand for root, but describes the whole plant or the "herb" (cf. the modern term "spice"), so it can denote any part of a plant (herb, root, flower and fruit). Also Hieronymus Bock added to his herb book from the second edition in 1546 in the chapter Schwartz Nießwurtz an illustration of the pheasant's eye when, in the second edition in 1546 even without flowers, from the third edition 1551 with flowers.

Bock impressively described the external appearance of the spring Adonis beauty, which he called “the ſchwartz Nießwurtz”. This will "to Ingelheim auff the pagans between Bingen vnd Meintz " from "frembden wurtzlern" dug, which they sold to Venice. Bock himself dug the plant in 1544 “in the mountains not far from the Leiningen spot ”. Spring Adonisröschen stocks are preserved in the Mainz Sand nature reserve near Leiningen .

Root of the Black Nießwurtz (Snow Rose - Helleborus niger ):

The roots of the black hellebore were interpreted as the roots of the snow rose ( Helleborus niger ) in antiquity, in the Arab and Latin Middle Ages and in modern times . The modern interpretation of helleborus niger in the Middle Ages, however, includes Christmas rose (Helleborus niger L.) , stinking / Green Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus L./viridis L.) and pheasant's eye (Adonis vernalis L.) The roots should in the sense of humors " Remove black bile in melancholy ”. Antiquity: Arab Middle Ages: Latin Middle Ages: Modern Times:

Herb of the Black Nießwurtz (pheasant's eye - Adonis vernalis ):

The herb Black hellebore was first in small Destillierbuch of Hieronymus Brunschwig mentioned without being described the appearance of the herb. He treated the black hellebore , which he called Xpi- [Christ-] root , in two chapters. As Xpi- [Christ] Wurz roots and as Xpi- [Christ] Wurz-Krut .

Illustration of Adonis vernalis . Left: Hortus sanitatis , Strasbourg 1497 edition. Right: Small distilling book , Strasbourg 1500
  • For Xpi- [Christ-] Wurz roots , Brunschwig used the names elleborus niger , liebelei and schwartz nießwurtz and he therefore meant the roots of the snow rose ( Helleborus niger ). They should be harvested and distilled in August. For the effect he stated: "purges the melancoli and makes zů ſtůl gon."
  • He gave no description of Xpi- [Christ-] Wurz- Krut . The attached illustration was borrowed from an edition of the Hortus sanitatis and showed the spring Adonis rose ( Adonis vernalis ). Only the herb of the Xpi- [Christ] root should be distilled in the middle of May. The herb's water (distillate) has a "disparaging nature against the roots of water". The herb's water "pots the ſtůlgang" and the Wurtzeln water "brings the ſtůlgang." 1/2 to 1 lot (7 to 14 g) of water taken every morning, be "zů vil kranckheiten gůt den l [e] yb in." keep calm ". Brunschwig wrote that he had seen a man named Claus Hollant in Strasbourg who took the powder of Adonisröschen herb every morning in the amount of a hazelnut and died of natural causes at the age of 130 without ever being sick. With it he described the use of the herb drug Adonisröschen as a life-prolonging remedy in folk medicine.

Paracelsus wrote in his "Herbarius" (approx. 1525) and in his treatise "From the natural things" (approx. 1525) in detail about the life-prolonging effect of the "leaves of the black usefruit". It is probable, if not certain, that he meant the leaves of the spring adonis. He distinguished the herb drug (the leaves) from the root drug, to which he attributed other effects. The leaves should be dried in the shade by an easterly wind and then crushed into powder. This herb powder was to be mixed with the same amount of fine sugar. From 60 to 70 years of age, 1/2 quint (approx. 1.8 g) of this mixture every morning, from 70 to 80 years of age 1/2 quint every other morning, from 80 to 1/2 quint should be taken every sixth morning at the end of life. This would protect man from all diseases. In 1936, Hans Fischer interpreted Paracelsus' “black hellebore” as Helleborus niger - without distinguishing between the root drug and the herb drug .

Until the 1880s, the Adonis herb was only used in folk medicine. In Russia, from 1880, Bubnow used an infusion of the herb to increase diuresis , regulate the heart's activity and remove pleuritic exudates . As a result, standardized preparations made from the herb were used to treat heart disease.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Camerarius in his annotated edition of the herb book by Mattioli , Frankfurt am Main 1586, sheet 419v – 420r, "Vermeinte black Nießwurtz" ( picture link ) (digitized version )
  2. ^ Otto Brunfels : Contrafayt Kreüterbůch . Strasbourg 1532, foreword, chapter 19 (digitized version) - Henry E. Sigerist : Studies and texts on early medieval recipe literature. Barth, Leipzig 1923, foreword, SV - Charles Singer : The herbal in antiquity . In: The journal of hellenistic studies. Volume 47 (1927), pp. 1-52. - Brigitte Hoppe: Hieronymus Bock's book of herbs. Scientific historical investigation. With a list of all plants in the work, the literary sources of the medicinal indications and the uses of the plants. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1969 - Gundolf Keil : Phytotherapy and medical history . In: Zeitschrift für Phytotherapie, Volume 6 (1985), pp 172-178 et al
  3. ↑ Gart der Gesundheit . (Mainz 1485). Edition Augsburg (Schönsperger) 1485. Cap. 166. (digitized version)
  4. ↑ Hermann Fischer : Medieval botany. Verlag der Münchner Drucke, Munich 1929, p. 86.
  5. ↑ Hieronymus Brunschwig : Small distilling book . Strasbourg 1500, sheet 121r-v. (Digitized version)
  6. ^ Friedrich Kluge , Alfred Götze : Etymological dictionary of the German language . 20th edition. Edited by Walther Mitzka . De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1967; Reprint (“21st unchanged edition”) ibid 1975, ISBN 3-11-005709-3 , p. 870 ( root ).
  7. ↑ Hieronymus Bock : Herbal Book. Edition 1546, Book I, Cap. 135, p. 153r. (Digitized version)
  8. ↑ Hieronymus Bock: Herbal Book. Edition 1551, Book I, Cap. 135, p. 153r (digitized version )
  9. ↑ Brigitte Hoppe: Hieronymus Bock's book of herbs. Scientific historical investigation. With a list of all plants in the work, the literary sources of the medicinal indications and the uses of the plants. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1969, p. 206
  10. ^ Oskar Sebald , Siegmund Seybold , Georg Philippi : The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 1, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3322-9 , p. 265.
  11. ↑ Hermann Fischer : Medieval botany. Verlag der Münchner Drucke, Munich 1929, p. 249: ... Some plants were probably already rare in the course of the Middle Ages, such as ... the Adonis rose and others, which the herb collectors and root diggers were too close to.
  12. ↑ Ulrich Stoll: De tempore herbarum. Vegetable remedies as reflected in the herbal collection calendars of the Middle Ages: an inventory. In: Peter Dilg, Gundolf Keil, Dietz-Rüdiger Moser (eds.): Rhythm and Seasonality. Congress files of the 5th symposium of the Medievalist Association in Göttingen 1993. Sigmaringen 1995, ISBN 3-7995-5404-1 , pp. 347-375, here: p. 360.
  13. ↑ Julius Berendes: Des Pedanios Dioskurides medicine theory in 5 books. Enke, Stuttgart 1902. Book IV, Chapter 149, p. 446 (digitized version)
  14. ↑ Pliny . Naturalis Historia . Book XXV, § 47–60 (Chapter XXI) Melampus (digitized Latin) ( digitized edition Külb 1840–1864 German)
  15. ^ Galenos , 2nd century, De simplicium medicamentorum temperamentis ac facultatibus , lib. VI, cap. V / 9 (after Kühn 1826, Volume XI, p. 874.) (digitized version )
  16. ^ Avicenna : Canon. Edition Andrea Alpago, Basel 1556, p. 228. (digitized version)
  17. ↑ Constantinus africanus , 11th century, translation by Ibn al-Jazzar . Liber des Gradibus Simplicium. In: Constantinus africanus. Opera. Basel edition p. 371. (digitized version)
  18. ↑ Approximately instans . Printed in Venice 1497. Sheet 197v. (Digitized version)
  19. ↑ Pseudo-Serapion , 13th century, Venice edition 1497. Sheet 146r (No. CCCXXXIII). (Digitized version)
  20. ^ Pseudo-Macer Cap. 57: Elleborus niger. Print Basel 1527, sheet 38v. (Digitized version)
  21. ^ German Macer . Elleborus niger. According to: Bernhard Schnell, William Crossgrove: The German Macer. Vulgate version. Niemeyer, Tübingen 2003, p. 363 (Cap. 55).
  22. ^ Franz Pfeiffer (ed.). Konrad von Megenberg : book of nature . Stuttgart 1861, p. 399 (V / 36). (Digitized version)
  23. ↑ Herbarius Moguntinus . Mainz 1484. Cap. 57. (digitized version)
  24. ↑ Gart der Gesundheit . (Mainz 1485). Edition Augsburg (Schönsperger) 1485. Cap. 166. (digitized version)
  25. ↑ Hortus sanitatis , Jacobus Meydenbach, Mainz 1491, Book I, Chapter 165: Elleborus niger (Diditalisat)
  26. ↑ Hieronymus Brunschwig : Small distilling book . Strasbourg 1500, sheet 121r – v (digitized version )
  27. ↑ Otto Brunfels : Kreuterbuch 1532, p. 62 (digitized version)
  28. ↑ Hieronymus Bock : Herbal Book . Edition 1546, Book I, Chapter 153 (digitized version)
  29. ↑ Leonhart Fuchs : Kreuterbuch 1543, Chapter 105 (digitized version)
  30. ↑ Heinrich Marzell : Dictionary of German Plant Names. Hirzel, Leipzig 1943, Volume 1, Col. 122–123
  31. ↑ Brigitte Hoppe: Hieronymus Bock's book of herbs. Scientific historical investigation. With a list of all plants in the work, the literary sources of the medicinal indications and the uses of the plants. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1969, p. 206
  32. ↑ Hermann Fischer : Medieval botany. Verlag der Münchner Drucke, Munich 1929, p. 257: Adonis vernalis L. elleborus niger, melampodium (Gart) - swartz nyeßwurtz (Gart), edele luminadi (?), Liebelei (Brunschwig)
  33. ↑ Brigitte Baumann, Helmut Baumann : The Mainzer Herb Book Incunabula - "Herbarius Moguntinus" (1484) - "Gart der Gesundheit" (1485) - "Hortus Sanitatis (1491)." Scientific historical studies of the three prototypes of botanical-medical ladder of the late Middle Ages. Taking into account the forerunners Etymologiae˂ (around 630), ˃Capitulare de Villis˂ (around 800), ˃Hortulus˂ (around 840), ˃Physica˂ (1152), ˃De Vegetabilibus˂ (1256/1257), ˃buch der Natur˂ (1475), ˃Lateinischer Macer Floridus˂ (1st half of the 13th century), ˃Deutscher Macer Floridus˂ (1st half of the 15th century), Pseudo-Apuleius-Platonicus˂ (1481/1482), ˃Promptuarium Medicinae ˂ (1483) and ˃Garden of Health˂ / Hortus Sanitatis˂ reprints by Grüninger (1485/1486), Furter (1486), Dinckmut (1487), Prüss (1497) as well as the works ˃Arbolayre˂ ( 1486/86), Ruralia commoda˂ (1493) and ˃Liber de arte distillandi˂ (1500) . Anton Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2010, p. 238
  34. ↑ Hieronymus Brunschwig : Small distilling book . Strasbourg 1500, sheet 121r-v. (Digitized version)
  35. ↑ Paracelsus : Herbarius (approx. 1525) (Huser edition 1590, 7th part, pp. 64–73) (digitized version ) . From the natural things (approx. 1525) (Huser edition 1590, 7th part, pp. 119–130) Bavarian State Library (digitized) .
  36. ↑ Hans Fischer : Helleborus in antiquity and with Paracelsus. In: Linus Birchler, Fritz Medicus and Hans Fischer. Contributions to the characteristics of Theophrastus Paracelsus. Schwabe, Basel 1936, pp. 23–40.
  37. ^ Heinrich Friedrich Link . Adonis . In: Carl Ferdinand von Graefe , Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland , Heinrich Friedrich Link, Karl Asmund Rudolphi , Elias von Siebold (eds.) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicinal Sciences , Volume 1, JW Boike, Berlin 1828, pp. 449–450 (digitized version )
  38. ^ NA Bubnoff. About the physiological and therapeutic effects of the Adonis vernalis plant . In: German Archive for Clinical Medicine . FCW Vogel, Leipzig Vol. 33 (1883), pp. 262–311 = summary of his dissertation of the same name from 1880 (digitized version )
  39. ^ Theodor Gottfried Husemann (1833–1901). Handbook of the entire pharmacology. 2nd Edition. Volume II, Springer, Berlin 1883, p. 1172. (digitized version )
  40. ↑ Wassily Demisch. Russian folk remedies from the plant kingdom . No 6: Adonis vernalis L . and No 7: Adonis sibirica Patrin . In: Rudolf Kobert (Ed.): Historical studies from the Pharmacological Institute of the Imperial University of Dorpat . Tausch und Grosse, Halle, Volume I (1889), pp. 153–156 (digitized version )
  41. ^ Hager's handbook of pharmaceutic practice . 1900, Volume I, p. 161. (digitized version)
  42. ↑ Mutterer. For the treatment of heart diseases with Adonis vernalis, as a replacement for so-called chronic digitalist therapy . In: Therapy of the Present . Volume 10 (1904), pp. 476–479 (digitized version )
  43. ↑ Hugo Schulz . Lectures on the effects and uses of German medicinal plants. (2nd edition, Leipzig 1929, p. 109.)