Wormwood
Timeline
| c. 1552 BCE | An Egyptian herbal, the Ebers Papyrus, mentions wormwood. 1 [Details] | |
| c. 500 BCE | Baker, in "The book of absinthe: a cultural history" claims without citation that "Pythagoras thought that wormwood leaves in wine would ease childbirth, and Hippocrates also recommended it for period pains, as welll as anaemia and rheumatism." Erowid has found no direct citations or texts that validate this claim and it should be treated as untrue. 2 | |
| c. 100 CE | Pliny the Elder describes several Roman medicinal uses of wormwood (called "Absinthium"), saying it is sometimes boiled in water or added to wine. [More Info] | |
| c. 100 | Greek physician Soranus of Ephesus describes a method of inducing abortion by soaking in a bath containing wormwood and other herbs. | |
| Middle Ages | Wormwood drink used as a cure for flatulence. 3 | |
| 9th century | Wormwood is praised in the latin herbal poem Hortulus by the monk Walahfrid Strabo from Svebia (modern Southern Germany). 4 | |
| 16th century | Spanish Jesuits spread Artemisia absinthium (known as hierba santa, "sacred herb") to Central and South America. 4 | |
| c. 16th century | Purl, a drink composed of hot ale and wormwood, is drunk in Tudor England. 5 | |
| 1731 | G. Smith publishes a recipe for proof-spirits infused with wormwood and sweetened with sugar in his Complete Body of Distilling. 6 | |
| 1990 | Wormwood extracts found to be as effective in supressing malaria as chloroquine |
References
- Pendell D. Pharmako / Poeia. Mercury House, 1995.
- Padosch SA, Lachenmeier DW, Kröner LU. Absinthism: a fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact. Subst Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. May 10, 2006.