elixir

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In medicine, an elixir , or more rarely an elixir , is an extract from medicinal plants with various additives dissolved in wine or alcohol . From the alchemist's Latin it has been known since the 13th century as elixir (ium) (powder as the embodiment of the philosopher's stone , also healing potion), which in turn from Arabic asالإكسير / al-iksīr  / 'Medicinal drug , the essentials, the philosopher's stone', and is derived from the Greek ξήριον / xēríon (the dry, dry remedy, scattering powder e.g. for wound treatment; from xērón , dry).

In the Middle Ages, should according Gabir an elixir supposed to be a transformation of base metals into noble (z. B. Gold , Silver effect). This elixir (as a quintessence ) was also regarded as a panacea and it was attributed to a rejuvenating and / or life-extending effect.

In the 19th century, Elixir was among other things a collective name for numerous preparations made from syrups, mostly with added alcohol, which also smelled and tasted pleasant.

While the Pharmakopoea universalis of 1845 mentions 188 different recipes for elixirs, the German Pharmacopoeia from 1926 only contains the toning Elixir Aurantii compositum (also called Hoffmann's Elixir ) and the expectorant Elixir e Succo Liquiritiae .

Healing potion

A healing potion called an elixir can regenerate a certain proportion of physical strength or health (originally the ratio of body fluids ) through its use (depending on its effectiveness) . Examples include the Swedish Bitters , the Melissengeist or preparations Theriak , the opium-containing panacea antiquity and the Middle Ages.

A theriac-containing healing potion was, for example, the Elixir pestilentiale Crolli composed by Oswald Croll at the beginning of the 17th century , the main components of which were sulfur , oil and leaves of juniper , elemi resin , angelica and theriac . At the end of the 18th century, an Elixir polychrestum Halense (a versatile Hallesches Elixir) is described in pharmacopoeias , which goes back to Daniel Wilhelm Triller and contains, among other things, a panchymagogue that expels all kinds of spoiled body juices . An "anti-asthmatic elixir" described by the French clinician Armand Trouseau (1801–1867), the main component of which was potassium iodide , but also contained a decoction of bitter finial and an opium extract , is said to have been effective against asthma in particular . Also in the 18th century Elixir paregoricum Edinburgense (from the Scottish Edinburgh) containing, among other ingredients opium.

From the 16th to the 19th century, the Elixir proprietatis , based on Paracelsus, received special attention , the basic ingredients of which were dried aloe juice ("Leberaloe"), myrrh , saffron and (more or less diluted) alcohol. In 1526 Paracelsus himself described six elixirs of different types and effects, which mainly have long distilling and digestion times in common:

  • Elixir balsami
  • Elixir salis
  • Elixir dulcedinis
  • Elixir quintae essentiae
  • Elixis subtilitatis
  • Elixir proprietatis

Magic potion

Elixirs often play an important role in fairy tales and fantasy literature, as well as in role-playing games . Be it as a simple healing potion, as a magic potion or even as an elixir of life or an elixir of eternal youth. Such an elixir can be found in the 1814/15 romance The Elixirs of the Devil by ETA Hoffmann.

It is prepared by people with knowledge of magic - for example witches , magicians or druids - in order to achieve particularly strong magical powers or to provide the user (or victim, if ingested unknowingly) with certain advantages (or disadvantages).

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Elixir  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dietlinde Goltz, Joachim Telle , Hans J. Vermeer : The alchemical treatise 'From the multiplication' by Pseudo-Thomas von Aquin: Investigations and texts. Wiesbaden 1977 (= Sudhoffs Archiv. Supplement 19), p. 82.
  2. ^ Paul Diepgen (1951), p. 7 f.
  3. ^ Paul Diepgen (1951), pp. 7-13.
  4. ^ Paul Diepgen (1951), p. 23.
  5. ↑ Paul Diepgen (1951), pp. 28-30 and 38-42.
  6. ↑ Paul Diepgen (1951), pp. 30 f., 34 f. and 40 f.
  7. ↑ Paul Diepgen (1951), pp. 13-27.
  8. ↑ Paul Diepgen (1951), pp. 36-38.