Discovery of Staphylococcus aureus

Alexander Ogston (1844-1929) was a Scottish surgeon who in 1880 first observed staphylococci while performing experiments to prove his theory that cocci were pathogenic microorganisms and played a fundamental role in the formation of pus-filled infections.  He reported his observation at the Ninth Surgical Congress in Berlin in 1880.

He found the bacterium during microscopical examination of a pus sample removed form the leg of a young man in his private laboratory which he built behind his house in Aberdeen.

Ogston hypothesized that acute abscesses were caused by micrococci. After injecting pus from acute abscesses into guinea pigs and mice, he demonstrated that new abscesses formed, followed by signs of septicemia. He was able to stain the cocci using methylaniline which allowed him to study the different types of cocci in reference to their growth forms.

In 1882 Ogston described the cocci, which he named Staphylococcus, as being ‘individual spheres in masses looked like bunch of grapes’.

In 1884 Anton J. Rosenbach (1842-1923), a German surgeon, isolated two pigmented varieties in pure culture, and provided the first taxonomic description of the new genus, dividing it into a ‘golden’ species (Staphylococcus pyogenes var. aureus) and ‘white’ species (S. pyogenes var. albus).

The later species is now named S. epidermidis.
Discovery of Staphylococcus aureus

Dioscorides (AD 40 - 90)

Pedanius Dioscorides was born in Anazarbus which was part of the Roman province of Cilicia.

He was a Greek surgeon who served in Emperor Nero’s (AD 54-68) Roman Army and who, in the course of his military travels, complied what some consider to be the best description of medical botany to his name.

His great herbal was probably written around 60-78 BC, and mentioned 850 plants, animals, and minerals with discussion of their medical and non-medical uses. De Materia Medica described more than 600 plants with medical uses, 90 of which are still in use.

As an army physician, Dioscorides concentrated on soldier’s medicine, particularly wounds, But De Materia Medica also included a great deal of herbal folk wisdom.

De Materia Medica remained a standard reference for centuries and until the early 1600s, books on medical botany were little more than commentaries on Discorides’s work.

Until his classification was supplanted by that of Carolus Linnaeus in the 18th century, he stood as the foremost authority on pharmacy for more than sixteen hundred years.

He was recognized not only by later Roman and Byzantium writers but also by Islamic scholars.
Dioscorides (AD 40 - 90)

Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes)

Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes)
He was a Persian physician. He was known as Rhazes in Europe. He also was alchemist, philosopher, and scholar. He was born in Rayy, Iran in the year 865 AD and died in 925 AD.

Al-Razi made contributions to the field of medicine, chemistry and philosophy and have written 184 books and articles in various field. He practiced medicine for over 35 years and his medical commentaries contributed mainly to the fields of ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology. He also wrote in other subjects, such as physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics.

He travel intensively and rendered service to several princes and rules, especially in Baghdad, where his laboratory was located. Al-Razi only started studied medicine at the age of thirty. He did chemistry experiment until he got eye disease, obliging him to search for physicians to cure. He took up study in medicine after first visit to Baghdad.

He became Director of Rayy hospital during the reign of Mansur ibn Ishaq, Governor of Rayy. Soon he moved to a similar position in Baghdad and became head of its famous Muqtadari Hospital. A special feature of his medical system was that he encouraged cure through healthy and regulated food. This method was combined with his emphasis on the influence of psychological factors on health. Razi was an expert surgeon, and was the first to use opium as anesthesia.

The most sought after of all his composition was The Comprehensive Book of Medicine. It is a large private note book into which he placed extracts from earlier authors regarding disease and therapy and also recorded clinical cases of his own experience. His Comprehensive Book of Medicine was translated into Latin in 1279 under the title Continens by Faraj ben Salim. Another book ‘Book of Medicine Dedicated to Mansur’ was translated to into Latin by Gerard of Cremona and was known as Liber ad Almansoris. It became one of the most widely read medieval medical manuals in Europe.
Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes)