. Colchicine in agriculture, medicine, biology, and chemistry. Colchicine; Colchicine. CHAPTER 1 The Parent Plant. : The Knowledge of Colchicum in Ancient Civilizations The history of Cvlcliiciim, the drug of ancient and modern materia medica, is rooted in the myths and the written records of ancient Egypt, India, and Greece, and runs its course through the ages into the world of today. Not only do modern formularies admit Colchi- cum, the producer of the pure substance colchicine, but this plant is probably one of those mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus. This Egyp- tian document was prepared
. Colchicine in agriculture, medicine, biology, and chemistry. Colchicine; Colchicine. CHAPTER 1 The Parent Plant. : The Knowledge of Colchicum in Ancient Civilizations The history of Cvlcliiciim, the drug of ancient and modern materia medica, is rooted in the myths and the written records of ancient Egypt, India, and Greece, and runs its course through the ages into the world of today. Not only do modern formularies admit Colchi- cum, the producer of the pure substance colchicine, but this plant is probably one of those mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus. This Egyp- tian document was prepared al:)out 1550 ^ and is our oldest medical text. Colchician could be one of the saffron plants of the Papyrus. From this early age through thirty-five centuries of medical history to the compilation of the modern pharmacopeias, very few drug plants have survived. In fact, only eighteen, among seven hundred plants^^ originally listed as material for ancient Egyptian practitioners, achieved such historical fame. The Egyptian civilization developed a code for practicing medi- cine in which plant products played an important role, and the Ebers Papyrus summarized this accinnulation of knowledge. Egyptian doc- tors were advised in the Papyrus to give various seeds to their patients for relief from aches and pains. The seeds were administered on bread.^ While pure colchicine was not given in these doses, we can assume that the drug was used in treating rheumatism and gout, ail- ments which then and even yet afflict the human race. It is probable also that, if seeds were used, a large quantity would have been ad- ministered to the patient. A danger associated with using colchicine in the crude form is the poisonous projicrty of the drug. Enough active substance can be given to cause death in warm-blooded animals. Dry seeds may have as much as four parts of the drug j^er thousand of dry raw material. Perhaps some patients died from the colchicine prescription, for severe piuiishments
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