Philonium Nicolai, or Philonium Romanum, or Philonium Magnum Roman Philonium, or Greater Philonium, or Philonium of Nicholas

Tradition:

Western, Unani

Source / Author:

Nicholas

Herb Name White Henbane seed White Pepper Opium Cassia Wood Cinnamon Celery seed Myrrh Euphorbium prepared Costus Macedonian Parsley seed Fennel seed Cretan Carrot seed Saffron Pellitory Indian Spikenard Zedoary

Latin Hyoscyamus alba Piper album Opium Cinnamonum cassia Cinnamonum zeylanicum Apium graveolens Commiphora molmol Euphorbium resinifera Saussurea lappa Petroselinum macedonicum Foeniculum vulgare Daucus spp. Crocus sativus Anacyclus pyrethrum Nardostachys jatamansi Curcuma zedoaria Amount 5 drams ea. 2 1⁄2 drams 1 1⁄2 drams ea. 1 dram ea. 2 scr., 5 gr. ea. 1 1⁄2 scruples 15 grains ea.

Preparation:

Powder and with three times their weight of clarified Honey, form an Electuary.

Function:

Relieves Pain, stops Cough, promotes Rest

Use:

1. Persistent Cough
2. Difficulty Breathing, Breathlessness
3. Hemoptysis
4. Pleurisy
5. Pneumonia
6. Consumption
7. “all internal dolours [pain]” including Kidney Stones, severe Colic, serious abdominal pain and organ pain.
8. Promotes rest and sleep
9. Applied topically to Toothache

Dose:

1⁄2–1 scruple; or a piece as big as a Pea, dissolved in a suitable decoction, or taken dissolved in wine.
Renodeus said “it must be assumed at the mouth only in small quantity, as the bigness of a Pea, or little more, according to the age and strength … and it must be variously dissolved, for various purposes; sometimes in the decoction of plants; sometimes in wine”.

Cautions:

Obsolete due to the narcotics.
If used, overdose should be avoided.

Modifications:

1. Poppy seed can substitute Henbane seed and Opium.
2. It was commonly made without Euphorbium. Some also omitted Costus.
3. In the 1746 London Pharmacopoeia, it was reduced to White Pepper, Ginger, Caraway, Opium and using Syrup of Poppy instead of Honey. This was called Philonium Londinense.

The Philonium formulas are very powerful medicines and were important and highly regarded formulas in the past, being an early form of Opiate. It was advised to get the ‘counsel of a learned Physician’ before using this type of medicine.

They are largely obsolete today due to their heavy reliance on Henbane seed and Opium. Some of the Triphera formula are used similarly, but are far safer.

Philonium was a famous antidote invented by Philon of Tarsus who lived in the first century AD. Galen said by his time it had already developed a long and sound reputation, and that it was one of the earliest of this type of formula. Galen was responsible for translating the recipe out of obscure Greek poetry that would have been lost if not for him. It thus usually bared Galen’s name, although it was penned by Philon.

Renodeus said ‘No Medicament is so doubtful and various, as Philonium the Philosopher’s Antidote … for as many as have written of Pharmacy, have retained its name, but nothing more … Myrepsus [Nicholas] gave four Antidotes of that name’.
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