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106 FIRST PERIOD-^JNTIQUITT
proportion of an ounce of mastic and an ounce and a half of sal ammoniac
to a sextarv of the ashes of stag's horn.
Servilius Damocrates, a Greek physician, who acquired great
renown in Rome toward the middle of the first century, was the author
of many valuable works, both in verse and prose, which, unfortunately,
have been lost. His works are mentioned by Galen, who testifies to his
great esteem for Damocrates, calling him an eminent physician, and
quoting various passages from his works, and among others three poet-
ical receipts for dentifrice powders. From these receipts it appears that
Damocrajtes attached the greatest importance to the cleanliness of the
teeth, and that he considered this the indispensable condition for avoid-
ing disease of the teeth and gums.
Andromachus the Elder, of Crete, the physician of Nero, who con-
ferred upon him, for the first time, the title of archiater, became famous
through his theriac, an extremely complicated remedy, the virtues of which
^ were sung bv him in a Greek poem, dedicated to the Emperor. The
theriac was considered an antidote against all poisons and a remedy
against the greater part of diseases, in short, as a real panacea. It is
not even necessary to remark that this portentous medicine, which has
held a post of honor, from ancient times almost up to the present day,
was also used against odontalgia; and in those cases in which this was
produced by caries, Andromachus advised the filling up of the cavity
with the electuary which he rendered so famous. As the chief basis of
the theriac was opium, combined with stimulating and aromatic sub-
stances, there is no doubt that its use locally or even internally would
prove beneficial, temporarily at least, in many cases of odontalgia.^
Archigenes, of Apamea, a city of Syria, lived in Rome toward the
end of the first century and at the beginning of the second, under the
Emperors Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian. He acquired great
' The origin of the theriac, according to what Galen writes in his book De antidotis, is
to be traced back to Mithridates, King of Pontus, who hved from the year 132 to the year
63 B.C. This king, patron of Art and Science, was, for his times, an eminent toxicologist.
By making experiments on condemned criminals he sought to discover by what drugs the
action of the various poisons, both mineral and vegetable, and those inoculated by the bites
of poisonous animals might be counteracted. He afterward mixed the various antidotes
together for the purpose of obtaining a remedy that might prove a preservative against the
action of any poison whatever. This universal remedy, the receipt of which was carried
to Rome bv Pompey, the conqueror of that great king, was named juithridatium, after the
name of liini who had composed it. Andromachus modified the mithridate; he took away
certain ingredients and added others, reducing the number of them from about eighty to
sixty-five. The |)rinci|)al modification was that of introducing into the composition of this
drug the flesh of tlie viper; wherefore, (Jalen is of the opinion that the theriac (so called
from the (ireek word tlimoti, a noxious animal) was more efficacious than the mithridate
against the bite of the vijH-r. The theriac still exists in the French pharmacopeia, although
considerabi\ siuipliHcd. In 1 vtr\- 4 grams it contains 5 centigrams of opium.
^
106 FIRST PERIOD-^JNTIQUITT
proportion of an ounce of mastic and an ounce and a half of sal ammoniac
to a sextarv of the ashes of stag's horn.
Servilius Damocrates, a Greek physician, who acquired great
renown in Rome toward the middle of the first century, was the author
of many valuable works, both in verse and prose, which, unfortunately,
have been lost. His works are mentioned by Galen, who testifies to his
great esteem for Damocrates, calling him an eminent physician, and
quoting various passages from his works, and among others three poet-
ical receipts for dentifrice powders. From these receipts it appears that
Damocrajtes attached the greatest importance to the cleanliness of the
teeth, and that he considered this the indispensable condition for avoid-
ing disease of the teeth and gums.
Andromachus the Elder, of Crete, the physician of Nero, who con-
ferred upon him, for the first time, the title of archiater, became famous
through his theriac, an extremely complicated remedy, the virtues of which
^ were sung bv him in a Greek poem, dedicated to the Emperor. The
theriac was considered an antidote against all poisons and a remedy
against the greater part of diseases, in short, as a real panacea. It is
not even necessary to remark that this portentous medicine, which has
held a post of honor, from ancient times almost up to the present day,
was also used against odontalgia; and in those cases in which this was
produced by caries, Andromachus advised the filling up of the cavity
with the electuary which he rendered so famous. As the chief basis of
the theriac was opium, combined with stimulating and aromatic sub-
stances, there is no doubt that its use locally or even internally would
prove beneficial, temporarily at least, in many cases of odontalgia.^
Archigenes, of Apamea, a city of Syria, lived in Rome toward the
end of the first century and at the beginning of the second, under the
Emperors Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian. He acquired great
' The origin of the theriac, according to what Galen writes in his book De antidotis, is
to be traced back to Mithridates, King of Pontus, who hved from the year 132 to the year
63 B.C. This king, patron of Art and Science, was, for his times, an eminent toxicologist.
By making experiments on condemned criminals he sought to discover by what drugs the
action of the various poisons, both mineral and vegetable, and those inoculated by the bites
of poisonous animals might be counteracted. He afterward mixed the various antidotes
together for the purpose of obtaining a remedy that might prove a preservative against the
action of any poison whatever. This universal remedy, the receipt of which was carried
to Rome bv Pompey, the conqueror of that great king, was named juithridatium, after the
name of liini who had composed it. Andromachus modified the mithridate; he took away
certain ingredients and added others, reducing the number of them from about eighty to
sixty-five. The |)rinci|)al modification was that of introducing into the composition of this
drug the flesh of tlie viper; wherefore, (Jalen is of the opinion that the theriac (so called
from the (ireek word tlimoti, a noxious animal) was more efficacious than the mithridate
against the bite of the vijH-r. The theriac still exists in the French pharmacopeia, although
considerabi\ siuipliHcd. In 1 vtr\- 4 grams it contains 5 centigrams of opium.
