Danuta Raj

Already in the 19th century, researchers of the history of medicine tried to reinterpret the old pathogenesis and diagnostics by framing the descriptions of past epidemics within the framework of their own scientific discourse. However, this practice has sometimes led astray both then and now due to the incompatibility of modern medical language with historical sources, often of a narrative character. In addition, researchers in the field of historical science are often not qualified enough to correctly interpret the descriptions of the symptoms and course of the epidemic. On the other hand, representatives of medical sciences dealing with the past often misinterpret sources, cutting single pieces of information out of context and building a picture that is consistent with the current state of knowledge but inconsistent with the past. Given the persistence of this problem, which has been observable in the historiography of epidemics for many decades, it is worth investigating such cases in order to identify points that are particularly vulnerable to the risk of error.

Unlike in other large cities of Royal Prussia, i.e., Gdańsk/Danzig and Toruń/Thorn, the intra-city legislation regulating the local market for medical, surgical, apothecary, and midwifery services in Elbląg/Elbing have been largely overlooked by scholars. Additionally, the history of healthcare and pharmacy organization in Elblag remains a little-explored topic in both Polish and foreign historiography. The article aims to analyse the hitherto unknown 17th c. ordinance for physicians, apothecaries, and barbers issued by the Elbląg city council, and provides the trustworthy primary text (scholarly edition) to researchers.

The article presents a case study in which a simple, practical observation significantly changed the perception of basic phenomena regarding the mechanism of cell functioning, and thus was able to change the existing theory. This observation drew attention to the fact that the extract obtained from the dry plant substance with the use of pure alcohol, after distilling off the solvent, does not give a dry concentrated extract, and the viscous residue cannot be dried by distillation. This is a phenomenon that practically every phytochemist has encountered since the inception of this field of knowledge. It turned out that the explanation for the described phenomenon is the presence of eutectic solvents. Eutectic solvents are formed by mixing specific solid components, which liquefy without the addition of solvents, thanks to a significant lowering of the melting point of the mixture compared to the melting points of the starting materials. Although more than a hundred years have passed since the description of the above phenomenon, in the field of natural sciences, eutectic solvents have been treated as a curiosity for a long time, while in medical sciences – and more specifically in pharmacy – they were considered an inconvenience causing pharmaceutical incompatibilities. In fact, they are essential for the functioning of cells, enabling plants to develop frost resistance, being responsible for the ability to cryopreserve animal tissues, or allowing the dissolution of substances which are otherwise insoluble inside the cell in either the lipid layer or the aqueous part of the cell juice. The described discovery, made in 2011, allowed for a leap improvement in the understanding of the functioning of living cells.