Page 8 - Pharmacy History 31 Mar 2007

(Cont. from page 7)
Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, Florence
numbers as a result of the printing press. The trading wealth of Italian city states stimulated establishment of universities where ideas of Naturalism and Humanism flourished. The opening of spice routes to the east and the discovery of America led to
a massive influx of new flora into Europe and gave impetus to the study of plants and development of botanical science.
We visited the Physic Gardens in
Pisa (established 1544) and Padua (established 1545).
Padua University (founded 1222)
set up a Chair of Simples in 1533, recognising the urgent need for students undertaking medical training to have an accurate means of identifying individual plants as a basis of remedies (i.e. simples). Students had worked only from inaccurate and stylised manuscript illustrations and translations of ancient texts which
led to mistakes and even fraud. This Chair was supported by the Venetian Senate, which controlled Padua, as advantages were realised in staying ahead of the competition in plant knowledge. Padua PG was created in 1545 on the property of Benedictine monks and was planned by the Venetian nobleman Daniele Barbaro assisted by the architect Andrea Moroni.
The PG or Horto simplicium was initially under control of Francesco
Bonafede, who had held the Chair of Simples from 1533. He introduced student tours of plants in the PG. The first custodian of gardening
was Luigi Squalermo (also called Anguillara) who introduced and cultivated up to 1800 plant species. The PG was continuously enriched with plants from all over the world. Exotics and local plants long used
by apothecaries/pharmacists were included. Padua PG was not private and was open to all. The high value of the plants made the PG a frequent target for thieves, despite the threat of severe punishments. In 1522 a circular enclosing wall was built. The PG retains its original layout with
a circular central plot, symbolising the world, surrounded by a ring of water (not obvious today). Within the circle was a square divided into four quadrants (tiers) representing the four (known at that time) continents. The paths represented the four rivers flowing out of Paradise. Each tier
was planted as a living encyclopaedia for scientific and reference purposes. Knowledge of plants made it possible to attain knowledge of God, and regain power over nature (lost with the fall in the Garden of Eden),
with God revealing a small part of himself in the creation of each plant. Statues and fountains were added. Greenhouses and a botanical theatre date from the 19th century. As the
science of Botany developed, a library, herbarium and laboratories were added.
Until 1984, the oldest plant was
a Vitex agnus-castus (from 1550). Commonly known as the Chaste Tree, monks used the ground up seeds as pepper to ensure chastity. This pepper may have some estrogenic
or progestin activity. Currently the oldest plants include a palm planted in 1585 and ginkgo and magnolia from the mid-1700s.
Today one roams through a well maintained garden, rich in medicinal and aromatic plants. Poisonous plants are in a separate section with crosses on each plant’s label indicating the degree of toxicity; two crosses for toxic and three for lethal!
Grand Duke Cosimo I of Medici
was the founder of Pisa PG in 1543-4 (and another shortly after
in Florence). Pisa PG was initially under the care of the famous botanist and brilliant teacher, Luca Ghini (1490-1556) and soon became famous as a botanical school. He became Director of the Garden
and Professor simplicium. He used pioneering techniques of observation and experiment, giving regular demonstrations in the PG for students. A pupil, Aldovandri, drew up a list of 103 lectures given by Ghini at Pisa. A 1584 list shows 620 different plants in the Pisa PG. Ghini is best known for the establishment of a herbarium, a new way to study plants. Plants were pressed and stuck as dried specimens onto pages of a book. The herbarium was an easier means for students
to agree on correct identification
and plant names. Those interested
in plants soon used this method of study. Although nothing remains
of Ghini’s herbarium, that of his successor, Andrea Cesalpino, from 1563, exists in the Museo Botanico (part of the Natural History Museum) in Florence.
Geometrical planting designs like those in Padua and Pisa became the standard in more than 20 university- based PGs created up to 1673 when
8 ■ Pharmacy History Australia
volume 3 ■ no 31 ■ MARCH 2007