HISTORY & SCOPE OF TOXICOLOGY

A poison is a substance which has a harmful effect on a living organism; whether we regard a substance as a poison depends on its use.

Primitive man Trial and error - awareness of natural poisons from plants and animals
Used these on his weapons - "Arrow Poisons" (curari; strychnine; poison dart frogs)

Magic; potions; "drugs"

1500 BC Eber's papyrus: Earliest surviving Pharmacoepia - collection of medical records with references and recipes for poisons. probably the beginning of the study of poisons

400 BC HIPPOCRATES (Greek)
"Look to the spine for the cause of disease" - spinal manipulation
thorough awareness of poisons and principles of toxicology
treatment of poisoning by affecting absorption
"...chew bark of the white willow ..." for headaches and fever

185 - 135 BC Nicander (physician to King Bythnia) - was permitted to experiment with poisons using convicted criminals - consequently wrote:
Therica - Animal Toxins (reptiles) and Alexipharmica - Antidotes to plant & animal toxins (linseed tea to induce vomiting

King Mithridates - used a mixture of 50 different antidotes (Mithridatum) for protection; failed when he attempted to commit suicide! Mithridatic = antidote

Aristotle

250 B.C. Theophrastus

82 BC First known law against poisoning (to protect against careless dispensing) issued in Rome (by Sulla)

AD 50 Dioscorides (Greek Physician): classified poisons as plant, animal, or mineral; earliest known attempt to classify plants according to toxic and therapeutic effects; recognized use of emetics to manage poisonings; Wrote Materia Medica - the major treatise on poisons for 15 centuries

AD 131 - 200 GALEN:
Sensory & motor functions associated with spinal c. segments
Experimental physiology
Shotgun Therapy
Galenicals

1135 - 1204 Maimmonides: wrote Poisons and Their Antidotes

Few advances in Medicine and Toxicology

1493 - 1541 PARACELSUS:
Rational use of "drugs"
Dose-response relationship

1700 Ramazzini: "Diseases of Workers"; Father of Occupational Medicine
Toffana (Italian) - made cosmetics with arsenic (Aqua Toffana) - to eliminate rivals, husbands and enemies

1775 Sir Percival Pott: identified scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps as an occupational hazard

1787 - 1853 Orfilla (Spanish physician): Father of Modern Toxicology; developed means to detect poisonous substances to present in court (Forensic Toxicology)

1813 - 1878 Claude Bernard - identified the site of action of curare ("...either the nerve ending or the neuromuscular junction...")

1895 First X-ray machine
"Chiropractic"

1897 Acetylsalicylic acid extracted

Primitive man	Trial and error - awareness of natural poisons from plants and animals Used these on his weapons - "Arrow Poisons" (curari; strychnine; poison dart frogs)
	Magic; potions; "drugs"
1500 BC	Eber's papyrus: Earliest surviving Pharmacoepia - collection of medical records with references and recipes for poisons. probably the beginning of the study of poisons
400 BC	HIPPOCRATES (Greek) "Look to the spine for the cause of disease" - spinal manipulation thorough awareness of poisons and principles of toxicology treatment of poisoning by affecting absorption "...chew bark of the white willow ..." for headaches and fever
185 - 135 BC	Nicander (physician to King Bythnia) - was permitted to experiment with poisons using convicted criminals - consequently wrote: *Therica* - Animal Toxins (reptiles) and *Alexipharmica* - Antidotes to plant & animal toxins (linseed tea to induce vomiting
	King Mithridates - used a mixture of 50 different antidotes (Mithridatum) for protection; failed when he attempted to commit suicide! Mithridatic = antidote
	Aristotle
250 B.C.	Theophrastus
82 BC	First known law against poisoning (to protect against careless dispensing) issued in Rome (by Sulla)
AD 50	Dioscorides (Greek Physician): classified poisons as plant, animal, or mineral; earliest known attempt to classify plants according to toxic and therapeutic effects; recognized use of emetics to manage poisonings; Wrote Materia Medica - the major treatise on poisons for 15 centuries
AD 131 - 200	GALEN: Sensory & motor functions associated with spinal c. segments Experimental physiology Shotgun Therapy Galenicals
1135 - 1204	Maimmonides: wrote *Poisons and Their Antidotes*
	Few advances in Medicine and Toxicology
1493 - 1541	PARACELSUS: Rational use of "drugs" Dose-response relationship
1700	Ramazzini: *"Diseases of Workers"*; Father of Occupational Medicine Toffana (Italian) - made cosmetics with arsenic (Aqua Toffana) - to eliminate rivals, husbands and enemies
1775	Sir Percival Pott: identified scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps as an occupational hazard
1787 - 1853	Orfilla (Spanish physician): Father of Modern Toxicology; developed means to detect poisonous substances to present in court (Forensic Toxicology)
1813 - 1878	Claude Bernard - identified the site of action of curare ("...either the nerve ending or the neuromuscular junction...")
1895	First X-ray machine "Chiropractic"
1897	Acetylsalicylic acid extracted