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Introduction. The Dawn of Medicine Survival, for most species, depends upon keen senses and a sharp eye. Our early ancestors’ powers of observation would have been cultivated to a far higher level than is usual in modern societies. Very little would have escaped their attention. In that respect, it may be conjectured that the animals were our first teachers. In the mythology of all cultures, there is a good leavening of mythical beasts, both sacred and symbolic. This totemism is clearly in evidence in all of the earlier civilisations. In particular those of the Egyptian, Greek and Assyrian and Babylonian. To this we must also add those lost civilisations of the Far East and the Americas. It is commonplace to see the domestic cat and ingesting various types of grass in order to induce the vomiting of hair balls. Those sharp human eyes would have noted, that other species, when ailing, would have ingested various types of plants. In that context, it is interesting to note that the goat in European pagan mythology is known as the herbalist of the animal world. For a large proportion of herd animals, the changes of the seasons would bring with it a reoccurring pattern of migration. Perhaps the declination of the Sun produced a subtle change of light that released hormonal messengers to signal that it was time to make the long trek, upon which survival depended. The herd animals are excellent cartographers who will unerringly find their way over or around obstacles, whilst on the way from one watering hole to the next. Untold thousands of sharp hooves would have cut and tamped man kinds earliest trails and tracks. For those early people who tracked the herds, the changing vegetation would be noted. and added to the store of survival knowledge. Tenuous as it is, Shanidar, is the earliest known link to a proto-system of medicine. The pollen samples recovered represented 8 genera of flowering plants. This has led some writers to speculate that the motive for the flowering plants was pathos. I would like to suggest that the motive was pragmatism. For the following reasons; 1. Stone and bone tools were also recovered from the site. Those tools took considerable labour and skill to produce. Therefore, as barter goods they would have high value and would not be abandoned, unless there was some compelling reason. That reason may have been a journey of the soul to another region. The tools were survival artefacts for the soul on its journey to another world. 2. The pollen samples of the 8 different genera, were representative of medicinal herbs, which are still in use today. Therefore, the 2 main ingredients for survival on a long journey to the other side, were left at the burial site. Tools as survival artefacts and Plants as medicine. The remnants of Neolithic cultures and their practices exist today.
Medicinal herbs are prepared by beating the fresh plant between 2 stones, either as a single plant, or as a compound of plants. The herbs are reduced to a paste. The paste may be applied externally as a poultice. Alternatively, crude pills may be formed from the paste, however, the ingestion of plants was the exception, rather than the rule, in those Neolithic cultures. The reason was very simple, the dermal route of administration was the safest. Early Celtic herbalists used Foxglove ointment to cure dropsy. The problems of posology were minimised and a potentially lethal herb was tamed. The early roots of compounding are to be found in the dust of the Neolithic peoples. The founding date of the Sumerian City States, scattered along the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris, is not known. However, a carved stone frieze, which depicts the hand pollination of date palms, has been dated, between 8 and 9000 years old. This indicates a sophisticated knowledge of plant reproduction techniques. Wherever people gather together in large numbers, problems of logistics and supply will arise. Not the least of these, would be the provision of medical care and medicines. We may be certain that the compounding of medicinal plants had advanced far beyond the Neolithic practices. The earliest written records have been dated at 5000 years. The records were in the form of baked clay tablets. Some of the tablets were pharmaceutical recipes. The construction of those recipes display a fine grasp of the art of compounding. It should be said, that we have no firm knowledge of the early development of those City States. Compounding may lay claim to be the foremost of the pharmaceutical arts, and is the foundation upon which pharmacy, both ancient and modern, rests. Compounding is the combining of two or more ingredients, in a suitable vehicle, for administration to a patient. This seemingly simple operation, would in fact, need a good leavening of skill and knowledge. Overcoming incompatibilities in ingredients, and the vehicle used to administer a remedy, is the crux of the matter.
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Until the mid 18th century Europe’s economic activity was all but dominated by the trade in herbs and spice. The birth of the Renaissance, the wealth and intellectual activity of Venice as she led Europe out of the dark ages, was due to the patronage of many whose vast fortunes were founded on the trade in them.
The Shelf Life of a Remedy