''Fragmenta de viribus'' is a homeopathic reference book published in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

in 1805. The book was written by Samuel Hahnemann and published in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, in two volumes. The full title is ''Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum: positivis sive in sano corpore humano observatis'' (''Fragmentary Observations relative to the Positive Powers of Medicines on the healthy Human Body''). The first volume of ''Fragmenta de viribus'' lists the detailed

symptoms Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an disease, illness, injury, or condition. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormali ...

caused by 27 different drugs."The frequently appearing symptoms were stressed by italics. The second volume contains the totality of the symptoms in alphabetical order." ''Fragmenta de viribus'' lists the health effects of 27 drugs in common use as recorded in the medical literature along with Hahnemann's own observations from taking the drugs himself: "The first collection of the effects of medicines ... according to his own observations and those of others was, as is well known, published in the work, Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum, 1805." These were "medicinal substances whose pure pathogenetic action he had ascertained by experiments on himself, his family, and a few friends." ''Fragmenta de viribus'' makes no mention of

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...

or any theories of cure and makes no claims about their uses. However, it is widely regarded as the forerunner of Hahnemann's '' Materia Medica Pura'', part one of which was published in 1811: "the Materia Medica Pura had had its precursor in the Fragmenta." "The work, begun in the "Fragmenta," was continued in the "Materia Medica Pura," the first volume of which appeared in 1811 followed by five more volumes up to 1821."Tischner, p.395

References

External links

eBook copy of Framenta de viribus
1805 non-fiction books 19th-century Latin books Literature about homeopathy Reference works {{med-book-stub