We have been studying the Austrian provincial pharmacopoeia (Pharmacopoea Austriaco-provincialis emendata), published in 1794, as part of this master’s thesis. It was written by several authors, doctors or pharmacists by profession: Anton Freiherr von Störck, Joseph Franz von Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Johann Michael Schosulan, Wenzel von Czerny, Joseph Basgetha, and Karl Josef Offermanns.
The purpose of this master’s thesis was a critical evaluation of medicinal preparations mentioned in the second part of the pharmacopoeia. We wrote out the recipes of the medicinal preparations from the pharmacopoeia, translated the mentioned ingredients and the names of the preparations from Latin into Slovenian, and then looked into each preparation in more detail. Our main focus was to examine the purpose of using the preparation back then and whether they are still being used today. Furthermore, we studied the pharmaceutical forms used then and compared them to the present ones.
We found that many of the preparations listed in the mentioned pharmacopoeia are no longer in use due to the fast progress in chemistry and pharmacy through the last two centuries. They can still be found, but there are differences in the type and amount of ingredients, and the manufacturing process. In addition, they can be used for other treatments etc. Most of the ingredients of medicinal preparations were of plant origin. It is also possible to trace the use of substances of animal origin and a relatively large number of inorganic substances. Pharmaceutical forms were chosen for different ways of application. The use of some of them has been preserved until today, while others are no longer encountered or have been replaced by more modern pharmaceutical forms.
|