Theriac

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French Theriac Vessel (1782)

Theriak (from Latin theriaca, from Greek thēriakón (antídoton) from thēr (ion) : animal, wild animal, poisonous animal) is a compound that was developed in ancient times as an antidote (“antidote”) against animal poisons (especially snake poison) , honey-based as electuary prepared and mostly opium-containing drug, which in the middle ages as an expensive universal remedy has been applied to many diseases and ailments. Today, Theriac is still occasionally offered in a modified, opium-free composition for folk medical use, mainly on the Internet .

Antiquity

The doctors of Classical Greece tried to treat the bites of poisonous snakes with a herbal mixture of anise , fennel and caraway . The recipe for this remedy was carved into the wall of the Asclepion of Kos . The drug was called Theriak, a name that was first used around 170 BC. Is mentioned by Nikandros von Kolophon , doctor, grammarian and poet.

Mithridates VI. Eupator (* 132 BC; † 63 BC), King of Pontus in Asia Minor , had reason to fear poison attacks from his family and those around him, because as a teenager he had probably poisoned his father and mother to get to power. With the help of his personal physician, he expanded the recipe for Theriac from 37 to 54 ingredients, including components of "poison-resistant" animals such as duck blood, snake and toad meat. After him, the remedy that he is said to have taken as a prevention against poison attacks was also called mithridate or mithridatium .

The compilation was later expanded to include opium as a further ingredient. The Persian or Turkmen term "Teriak" or "Theriaak" for the substance obtained from the poppy seeds is one of the presumed roots of the term. According to another etymological interpretation, it could be derived from the Greek word θηρίον ( therion = wild animal).

The one in Scrib comes from the compositions of Scribonius Largus . Larg. 164 theriace prima named recipe. It is the oldest evidence of the Latinized name theriace (-a). The ones in Scrib. Larg. 165 does not contain opium.

In ancient Rome , Andromachos , the personal physician of Emperor Nero , is said to have supplemented the Theriac with numerous other ingredients, including viper meat, and omitted other ingredients. This medicinal specialty, then composed of 64 components, was called Theriaca andromachi (also antídotos theriakē , later also antidotus theriace in the Lorsch Pharmacopoeia ) and enjoyed great popularity (even in the 17th century). Nero, like the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius , is said to have taken it regularly as a preventive measure for fear of poisoning.

The Greco-Roman doctor Galenus (or Galen) recommended Theriak with the addition of viper meat as a remedy for viper bites . With the increasing spread of the remedy, also known as Domina medicinarum , the composition became more and more complicated; Galen already describes a recipe with 70 ingredients in his work De Antidotis .

middle Ages

In the Middle Ages and the early modern period Theriak, was Latin in 1300 also tyriaca and later colloquially driakel , dryackel or regional driacker , tyriaker called as a universal, for "Heaven drug" increased panacea, the therapeutic and preventative against all possible diseases Relief and healing promised, from the plague to the weakness of fetuses. During and after the epidemic of the black death (plague) around 1349, the theriac was used as a single preparation, before more complex plague treatments became common from around 1370. The doctor and pharmacist Andreas Reichlin von Meldegg recommended for the treatment of the plague in his pestilence booklet published around 1450 :

“Item one should give the sick man Metridat to drink with vinegar, paint four times a day. But if one does not have Metridat, one gives him Driackers [Theriak] mixed with vinegar and saffron; that defends and makes the evil Gifft. "

- Andreas Reichlin von Meldegg : Pestilenz Büchlein, p. 17

The remedy was usually prepared as a latwerge and offered both in pharmacies , kept in valuable vessels, and by wandering traders (Theriakkrämer) and quacks . In order to maintain a uniform standard of the recipe, which usually required around 60 ingredients, and to prevent counterfeiting, in many places people felt compelled to produce theriac under the supervision of doctors, councilors and pharmacists. Since the Middle Ages, a simpler theriac ( theriaca diatesseron , theriaca minor ) made from just four medicinal drugs according to the Antidotarium Nicolai has also been used.

Renaissance

Public preparation of Theriac in Venice, 1512.

The snake meat required for the pharmaceutical production of theriac up to the late Middle Ages was obtained by snake catchers. The most important manufacture for Theriak was in Venice . The preparation of the Venetian Theriac was celebrated as a public ceremony lasting several days in the presence of the highest authorities with a large crowd. The worldwide trade in this precious and sought-after drug at the time contributed not insignificantly to the wealth of the city of Venice. Further centers for Theriac production were in Germany ( Nuremberg ) and in the Netherlands ( Amsterdam ).

Over the years, the list of ingredients had grown to 300 ingredients and the production required a sophisticated treatment reminiscent of magical rites. Because of the elaborate preparation and the preciousness of the ingredients, the panacea theriac was only affordable for the wealthy. Garlic was considered a panacea in rural circles. In the early modern period, garlic was therefore called "Bauerntheriak".

Modern times and the present

Formulations for theriac can be found in medical and pharmacological textbooks well into the 19th century. One of the many recipes is that of the fourth edition of the Prussian Pharmacopoeia from 1827:

" Electuarium Theriaca. Theriac. Take: skimmed honey six pounds [2160 g]. After warming up a little, add one ounce of powdered opium dissolved in a sufficient amount of Malaga wine . Then add: powdered angelica root six ounces [180 g], Virginia snake root [Aristolochia serpentaria] four ounces [120 g], valerian root , sea ​​onion , zittwerwurzel , zimme cassia , two ounces [60 g] each. Small cardamoms , myrrh , cloves , crystallized iron sulphate , put into powder, an ounce of each one. It will be a brown latwerge, which I keep carefully in a cool place. Note: One ounce [30 g] of this latwerge contains approximately five grains [0.3 g] of powdered opium. "

- Carl Wilhelm Juch and Wilhelm Raab : Pharmacopoea Borussica. 4th edition. Johann Adam Stein, Nuremberg 1830, p. 242.

Theriac as a panacea is a myth. However, the belief in the healing effect is still unbroken in some circles today, as a review of relevant esoteric publications proves . The formulations offered vary, but there is no evidence of therapeutic effectiveness in clinical studies. Theriak is not a drug approved in Germany . The repeatedly claimed positive effect on subjective perception is primarily due to the placebo effect.

literature

  • Peter Dilg: Theriaca - the queen of herbs. In: Deutsche Apotheker-Zeitung . Volume 126, 1986, pp. 2677-2682.
  • Thomas Holste: The Theriac Merchant. A contribution to the early history of drug advertising. (Medical dissertation Würzburg 1975), Pattensen near Hanover 1976 (= Würzburg medical historical research. Volume 5), now with Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg.
  • Thomas Holste, Gundolf Keil : A Strasbourg old German Theriaktraktat. In: “gelêrter der arzeniê, ouch apotêker”. Contributions to the history of science. Festschrift for the 70th birthday of Willem F. Daems. Edited by Gundolf Keil, Horst Wellm Verlag, Pattensen / Hanover 1982 (= Würzburg medical-historical research. Volume 24), ISBN 3-921456-35-5 , pp. 511-522.
  • Erika Jannsen: About the Theriak. In: Planta Medica . Volume 4, No. 2, 1956, pp. 51-60, doi : 10.1055 / s-0028-1101718 .
  • Gundolf Keil: Theriak. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil, Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1393 f.
  • Bernt Karger-Decker : Poisons, witch ointments, love potions. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96049-5 .
  • Michael McVaugh : Theriac at Montpellier 1285-1325 (with an edition of the 'Questiones de tyriaca' of William of Brescia). In: Sudhoff's archive . Volume 56, Issue 2, 1972, pp. 113-144, JSTOR 20775973 .
  • Julius Leopold Pagel : About the Theriak, based on a previously unprinted work by Bernhard von Gordon. In: Pharmaceutische Post (Vienna). Volume 27, 1894, pp. 205 f., 220-224, 235-237 and 257-262.
  • Hans Schadewaldt : Theriak. In: Alfons W. Biermann, Christiane Heinemann, Behrend Hohorst (eds.): Magical powers of noble stones (= writings of the Rheinisches Museumamt. No. 46). Rheinland-Verlag et al., Cologne (ie Pulheim) et al. 1990, ISBN 3-7927-1147-8 , pp. 55-64.
  • Gilbert Watson: Theriac and Mithridatium. A study in therapeutics (= Publications of the Wellcome Historical Medical Library. New series, Volume 9). Clowes, London 1966.
  • Johann Werfring: Medicine of Kings, King of Medicines . In: Wiener Zeitung , supplement ProgrammPoints , of May 27, 2010, p. 7.

Web links

Commons : Theriak  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Theriak  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge , Alfred Götze : Etymological dictionary of the German language . 20th ed., Ed. by Walther Mitzka , De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1967; Reprint (“21st unchanged edition”) ibid 1975, ISBN 3-11-005709-3 , p. 777.
  2. ↑ Ingegerd Ljungqvist: The Middle Low German Pharmacopoeia of the Codex Guelferbytanus 12.13 Helmstediensis. Germanistik Lizentiatsabhandlung, Stockholm 1971, p. 114.
  3. ^ PG Kritos, SP Papadaki: The history of the poppy and of opium and their expansion in antiquity in the eastern Mediterranean area. In: Bulletin on Narcotics. Vol. 19, No. 4, 1967, ISSN  0007-523X , pp. 17-38, ( online ).
  4. ↑ Carl A. dry suit: Opium, Empire and the Global Political Economy. A Study of the Asian Opium Trade, 1750-1950 (= Asia's Transformations. 4). Routledge, London et al. 1999, ISBN 0-415-19918-2 , Appendix 3.
  5. ↑ Nina Kerimi: Opium use in Turkmenistan: a historical perspective. In: Addiction. Vol. 95, No. 9, 2000, pp. 1319–1333, doi : 10.1046 / j.1360-0443.2000.95913194.x , online ( memento of the original from November 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically used and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / turkmeny.h1.ru
  6. ↑ θηριακός. In: A Greek – English Lexicon. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert, accessed December 21, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Johannes Hahn: Theriak . In: Karl-Heinz Leven (Hrsg.): Ancient medicine, a lexicon . Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-52891-0 , Sp. 859 f .
  8. ^ Giuseppe Olmi: The prince of all drugs: Theriac. In: Attilio Zanca (Ed.): Pharmacy through the ages. Ancient drugs. (Translated from the Italian by Nicoletta Canesi and Jennifer Hart) Farmitalia Carlo Erba (Astrea Coop.rl) Parma 1990, pp. 105-122; here: p. 105 f.
  9. ↑ J. Loeselius : Theriacam Andromachi, a Christophoro Meyero, Pharmacopoeo, XX. January. M.DC.LIV. confectam, recensuit Johan Loeselius. Königsberg 1654 ( digitized version ).
  10. ↑ Lutz Winckler: Galen's text "De Antidotis". A contribution to the history of antidote and theriac. Marburg 1980, (Marburg, Philipps University, dissertation, 1980).
  11. ^ Julius Leopold Pagel : About the Theriac, based on a previously unprinted work by Bernhard von Gordon. In: Pharmaceutische Post. Volume 27, 1894, pp. 205 f., 220-224, 235-237 and 257-262.
  12. ^ A b Dieter Lehmann: Two medical prescription books of the 15th century from the Upper Rhine. Part I: Text and Glossary. Horst Wellm, Pattensen / Han. 1985, now at Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg (= Würzburg medical-historical research , 34), ISBN 3-921456-63-0 , p. 169.
  13. ↑ Thomas Holste: The Theriakkrämer. A contribution to the early history of drug advertising. (= Würzburg medical historical research. Volume 5). Wellm, Pattensen / Hanover, now at Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg, 1976, ISBN 3-921456-04-5 (also: Würzburg, University, medical dissertation, 1976).
  14. ^ Emil Höring: The Swabian Theriac Plague Tract of 1389. In: Medical monthly. Volume 30, 1976, pp. 308-311.
  15. ^ Gundolf Keil: 'Straßburger Theriaktraktat'. In: Werner E. Gerabek et al. (Ed.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. 2005, p. 1364.
  16. ↑ Gundolf Keil: Ostbrabanter Theriaktraktat. In: Author's Lexicon . 2nd Edition. Volume 7, Col. 91 f.
  17. ↑ Konrad Goehl : Avicenna and his presentation of the medicinal effects. With an introduction by Jorit Wintjes . Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2014. ISBN 978-3-86888-078-6 , p. 32.
  18. ↑ Illustration from: Hieronymus Brunschwig . Large distilling book . Strasbourg 1512. (digitized version)
  19. ^ Wilhelm Crecelius : The seven liberal arts. In: AnzfKdVz. New series 4, 1856, No. 9, column 273 f. and 303-305, here: col. 303.
  20. ↑ Johann Werfring: The origin of the pestilence. On the etiology of the plague in the loimographic discourse of the early modern period (= medicine, culture and society. 2). 2nd Edition. Edition Praesens, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-7069-0002-5 , p. 131.
  21. ^ Carl Wilhelm Juch: Pharmacopoea Borussica or Prussian Pharmacopoeia. Latin and German with notes and additions. 4th, completely revised edition, by Wilhelm Raab. Stein, Nuremberg 1830, p. 242 .
  22. ↑ Stefan Stöcklin: Placebo No means, big effect. Why patients can make a wonderful recovery thanks to dummy drugs. On The Swiss Observer .