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A fascinating account of poultices, pills, and prescriptions over the centuries and how theyâve been developed and delivered. This lively account follows the development of medicines from traces of herbs found with the remains of Neanderthal man, to prescriptions written on clay tablets from Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC, to pure drugs extracted from plants in the nineteenth century, and to the latest biotechnology antibody products. In addition, it tells the stories behind historical figures in medicine, such as Christopher Wren, who gave the first intravenous injection in 1656, and William Brockedon, who invented the tablet in 1843, as well as recounting the changes in patterns of prescribing from simple dosage formsâsuch as liquid mixtures, pills, ointments, lotions, poultices, powders for treating wounds, inhalations, eye drops, enemas, pessaries, and suppositories mentioned in the Egyptian Ebers papyrus of 1550 BCEâto the complex tablets, injections, and inhalers in current use. A typical pharmacy now dispenses about as many prescriptions in a working day as a mid-nineteenth-century chemist did in a whole year. This history sheds light on the scientific progress made over centuries that led to the medical miracles of the modern world. |
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