A BRIEF HISTORY OF IPECAC (IPECACUANHA)

Abstract

Ipecac, the shortened form of ipecacuanha, was first brought to Europe from Brazil in 1649 by Piso, a Dutch physician; the dried root, reached Paris about 1658 and was then taken up by Helvetius, a quack physician, who prepared a secret preparation from it for the treatment of dysentery. Helvetius' preparation was called to the attention of Louis XIV of France, because his son, the Dauphin, was seriously ill with intractable dysentery which none of the physicians of the Court could cure. Legend has it that Helvetius' secret preparation-known as Radix Antidysenterica-promptly cured the Dauphin. Some time later Louis XIV paid Helvetius a large sum of money for the secret of the medication which had cured his son. The formula obtained from Helvetius proved to be a complex mixture of drugs, but Ipecac was the only ingredient which was later found to be of any medicinal value.1 (Ipecac is a native Brazilian word which in Guarani means ipé, small; kaa, plont; quanà, causing vomiting.2)