Page 12 - Pharmacy History 32 July 2007

38th International Congress for History of Pharmacy
A précis of the report produced by Dr Peter Worling for the British Society for the History of Pharmacy.
T he 38th meeting of the International Society for the
History of Pharmacy was held in Seville, Spain, from 19-22
September, 2007.
Following the formal opening
ceremony, the Conference Lecture, From Mercury to Miracle Drugs: Syphilis Therapy over the Centuries was given by Dr. John Parascandola, from the USA, which traced the history of the popular remedies of those times. When the Conference got down to business, 228 papers were presented during the three days, covering a wide ranging and fascinating list of subjects. Many responded to the conference theme of Drugs and medicines from both sides of the Atlantic ocean, others were on more general themes. Together these showed the amount of research and the interest in recording pharmacy history that there is internationally. With the Japanese Society now a member of ISHP, together with the History of Pharmacy section of the Serbian Pharmaceutical Society and
the History Division of the Hungarian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences, we can look forward to an ever widening subject matter in future.
The Australasian delegate to the conference, Dr Rosemary Beresford presented her paper , which will be published in a future edition of this journal.
One lecture of global interest was presented by Dr Christiane Staiger on the work she has been doing for ISHP in constructing a data base of all the papers that have been published on the history of pharmacy. This shows the author’s name, the title, the subject and the email address, so that the author
can be contacted. This data base can be accessed at: www.histpharm.org/tools. Members are recommended to visit this site. If they have published papers that are not included in the data base there are instructions on how to have these added. This is a mammoth task and Christiane was thanked for her work. The closing lecture then turned
the spotlight on the host city and summed up why Science Medicine
and Pharmacy in the 16th century was a golden age for Seville. The speaker explained that. It was open to two worlds – Europe and the Americas. The city was the link between the new world and the old and in its central position
it attracted visitors and residents from throughout Europe. As its population grew its commercial importance developed in parallel. The wealth this brought led to the construction of many fine new buildings, many paid for by the town guilds. Of particular importance was the growth of printing. In 1477 the first book was published
in Seville and from this time printing and publishing developed rapidly. By the end of the century one-sixth of all books published in Spain were printed in Seville and it had more scientists in residence than any other town in Spain. Seville was a centre for the production of maps and for training navigators. Their contact with the Americas led to the discovery of and recording of, many new plants and animals. These were detailed in the Natural Histories and Botanical works published in the city. Medical treatment also advanced. By 1568 there were 100 hospitals in the city. Free teaching of medicine was available at the Cardinal Hospital and many of the hospitals had their own
specialities, the treatment of knife wounds and sword thrusts among them. The rapid growth of the city led to increasing numbers of poor people. Starvation and disease were the other side of this glittering scene. Famine brought on typhus, smallpox, chicken pox and tuberculosis and bubonic plague broke out each decade. Syphilis was rampant and treatments were based on mercury and guiaicum, but prices
of the latter were very high because
the monopoly of supply was held by the bankers from 1529 until 1560. Sarsaparilla was also imported and used as an infusion to induce sweating this was the other side to the growth and commercial success of the city.
This lecture brought to an end an interesting conference, overflowing with riches in terms of research and information. Unfortunately there was insufficient time to hear and absorb all that one would have wished. Photographs of the conference are available at: www.farmasihistorie.com under Seville 2007.
The next International Conference will be held from the 16-19 September 2009, in Vienna, on the historical site of the Old Viennese General Hospital, now part of
the modern campus of Vienna University. The modern university was constructed while preserving the historical buildings. The opening ceremony will take place in the Great Hall of the University and there will be a reception
in the Banqueting Hall of the Gothic Town Hall. Details will be available at www.39ichp.org and it is hoped that there will be a good representation from ‘down under’.
12 ■ Pharmacy History Australia
volume 3 ■ no 33 ■ NOVEMBER 2007