The diploma focuses on the comparison and critical assessment of the knowledge that is given by professor Ehrmann in his work from the year 1834. The pharmacognostic part of his book was translated in the appendix of the diploma. Hager’s collection of monographs of active ingredients and drugs was used to help to critically assess the Materia Medica from the 19th century. Moreover we compared the contents of Ehrmann’s book with the medication that Viljem Lipič, another contemporary city doctor, used in his work.
Lipič’s approach to therapy is a combination of the humoral theory; the author writes about the mystery of life, vital fluids, weather influences and the influences of the modern era, autopsies, the use of a stethoscope. The character of the 19th century is more visible in Ehrmann’s work, since he’s interested in the origin of plants, cooperates with scientists from all across the globe, describes the rise of the global market (rhubarb market), draws attention several times to the ethical human behaviour in pharmacy, tries to recognise counterfeit drugs and also calls caution upon the others, he is interested in the chemical structure of drugs, their effects, the preparations, drug production, tea culture etc. His research methods are modern (empirical), however, the substances he is researching are keeping his connection with the past. The diploma is limited to the pharmacognostical part of the book where all the newest discoveries in pharmacy from the first half of the 19th century, chosen by Ehrmann, are summarised. The professor was working at the University of Vienna and was researching vegetable drugs (roots, wood, leaves, blossoms, bark, fruits and seeds), vegetable products (rubber, euphorbia, starch substances), fermentation products (ethanol, acetic acid, potassium bitartrate) and two animal drugs (sponge, leech). The usage of the drugs, described by Ehrmann, was reduced by chemical synthesis. We came to the conclusion that some of them are no longer in use (melon root), some are used only in folk medicine (kainka roots, cyclamen rhizome etc.), some are regaining their importance (leeches, pine crust), some have kept their role in pharmacy till the present day (camomile blossoms, senna leaves, mallow roots), some represent the origin of chemical synthesis and substance isolation (opium, cinchona bark, coffee beans, tea leaves), some have lost their importance in pharmacy, but have kept it in another field (cinnamon bark, crocus blossoms, rhubarb bark, sandalwood).
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