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This course comprises the list of plants likely to cure or alleviate diseases or functional symptoms which are beforehand studied from clinical or physiological point of view. With regard to botany, plants are designated: - either by their French name with sometimes a synonym or a classical Latin name, - or according to the Tournefort or Linné's terminology. It is an interesting truative on eighteenth century medical botany, the professor who dictated this course being Antoine or Bernard de Jussieu.

Trehala is a crude drug consisting of the pupal chambers formed by insects belonging to the genus Larinus that live on several Echinops species of the Middle-East. This sweet cocoon is locally used as human food and also for the treatment of cough and various pulmonary diseases. It first appeared in Western Europe in the collection of drugs from the Ottoman Empire displayed by François Della Sudda during the International Exhibition held in Paris in 1855. On the basis of this sample Nicolas Guibourt (1790-1867) gave, in 1858, the first full scientific description of the drug, its origin, and Larinus nidificans as the main insect species responsible for its formation. Marcellin Berthelot (1827-1907) isolated in the same year the sugar trehalose from the drug and gave a full account of its physical and chemical properties. In 1876, Müntz established that trehalose was identical with mycose isolated from Claviceps purpurea by Mitscherlich.

Pierre Pomet is a Parisian, but as all great botanists, he liked travelling and bringing back sample of drugs that he was ultimately showing during his course at the Jardin des Plantes (Royal Herbs garden in Paris). Member of druggists and groceries storekeepers’ Community, he was not allowed to establish himself as an apothecary in Paris. It is as drug expert that he wrote and published in 1694 his “General History of Drugs, concerning herbs, animals and minerals, book enriched with more than 400 copper-plate engravings designed from nature : with explanations of their various names, their countries of origin, the way to differentiate them from falsified ones, and their properties, where one can see the errors coming from Ancients and modern writers ; the whole being very useful for the public”. This book was translated into English in 1712 and German in 1717. It is part of the reference books of the 17th century for pharmacy. In his introduction, Pierre Pomet explains that his goal is to avoid for drugs errors and falsifications that very frequent at that time. The book is then dedicated not only to physicians, apothecaries or students, etc., but also to all that used drugs.

Rémy Willemet is above all a local botanist whose first work was selected by the academy of Nancy in 1766. His notoriety began when another work with Jean-François Coste was chosen by the academy of Lyon ten years later. He published then in many papers and was elected in numerous academies and scientific societies. During the Revolution, he was a professor of the Ecole centrale de la Meurthe and of the Société de santé, and he became the chairman of the botanical garden. Willemet wrote some botanical books. Today, what is the memory of his researchs and papers? Fairly few things because he never undertook botanical travels in order to discover and compare pharmaceutical plants. However, Willemetia was the name used to denominate some species and honour his family. His name was also engraved on the wall of some university buidings and it was chosen some years ago to entitle a botanical paper in Lorraine.

From "Frison" pharmacy of his district, Sainte Croix square in Montdidier, where he learned the trade of a pharmacist when he was 15 years old, to the General Inspectorate of the health service of Army responsability he helds from the 1st Germinal, Year IV until his death, Antoine Augustin Parmentier was both an humanist and anerudite scholar even if often, posterity and legend reduce his image only to that of"the inventor" of the most common Solanaceae. His work, more than 189 publications, and his innovative ideas, made advancing scientific knowledge including food chemistry and nutritional health but also in various other areas: blood analysis, preparation of drugs...Better known as "Fighter of the only war that has a biological and moral justification: the war against hunger" as Jose Castro President of the FAO in 1954 recalls, less is known about the excep- tional longevity, 56 years, and riches of his military pharmacist career during which he participated in 17 campaigns and he was captured 5 times. Apothecary "sub-help" of the army of Hanover in 1757, he became apothecary "gagnant maitrise" in 1766 and transiently apothecary Major at the "Hotel des Invalides", then Royal Censor, chief pharmacist of Geneva Army, and Board Member Health to the Minister of War in 1788 and then again from 1792 to 1813. In 1796, he was charged with five other inspectors of the reorganization of the health service. Outstanding organizer, he simplifies and deeply streamlines, especially in the pharmaceutical field, evidenced by its pharmaceutical form for the use of military hospitals of the French Republic in 1793. He left his mark for a long time in the military health Service. Member of the general council of civilians hospices of Paris, he is responsible for organizing the central hospital pharmacy, which led him to publish in 1811 the pharmaceutical code for the use of civilian hospitals, relief at home and infirmaries of prison. Benefactor of mankind, but also recognized scholar, the Academy of Sciences made him one of its members in 1795. Parmentier was in 1803, the first president of the Society of Pharmacy of Paris who became the National Academy in October 1979. He died on December 17, 1813 leaving a considerable body of work.

From 1830 to 1962, France has tremendously increased its colonial empire. After the colonization, pharmacists, civilan or military, botanists, chemists, teachers, and pharmacists from the industry will serve the colonial project that was emphatized after 1870 and even more after the First World War. Military pharmacists will play a key role for the valorization of colonies, as well as botanists such as E. Perrot, typical character of the colonial scientist. From 1906 Colonial Exhibit, he looked for the development of colonial herbs and more especially medicinal ones. Being a major political and economical issue between the two World Wars, the colonial project will end up with the 1931 Colonial Exhibit where E. Perrot was in charge of the pharmaceutical section. Other pharmacists will contribute to the colonial history: drugstore pharmacists, teachers and professionals coming from the industry. Several had in mind to bring civilisation.

Engaged in military campaigns from 1793 to 1797, he then studied medicine in Paris, as well as pharmacy, specialised in chemistry and botany. Supported by Deyeux and Corvisart, he was nominated as pharmacist of the emperor. From 1819 to 1844, he taught botany at the School of pharmacy of Paris. In 1823, the authority gave him a second chair for the medical botany at the Faculty of medicine, but after the 1830 revolution, he was dismissed. He mainly worked in taxonomy, contributing to several publications with Palisot and de Candolle for Graminaceae. He was a member of the academy of medicine.

Hugo De Vries' letter written to Léon Guignard dated November 12, 1899, has been found in a heap of books for a destruction. In this letter De Vries compliments his colleague for the discovery of double fertilization and provide an experimental proof of the mechanism of xenia.

At the beginning of the XXth century, professor Brunotte, of the school of pharmacy of Nancy, and the section vosgienne de Nancy du Club alpin français, undertook the creation of an alpine garden, in the Vosges, near the col de la Schlucht and le Hohneck, near also with the frontier with Germany. After the death of professor Brunotte, in 1910, the garden was given to the University of Nancy and completed until 1914, but the 1st World War destroyed it completely and it was impossible to recreate it. 1966 was the year of the creation of a new garden, not far from Monthabey, along the route des Crêtes, with a monument devoted to Monthabey garden and its promoter. The paper describes the creation of the first garden, the personality and career of professor Brunotte, its garden after his death and after the war, the precursors in botany of the Vosges Kirschleger and Bleicher, the new garden at Haut-Chietlet, finally the memories of professor Brunotte.

The monastery garden is a symbolic place where medicinal plants have both therapeutic use and religious meaning. The cloister is a natural as well as a spiritual space, where the monastic virtues are expressed by the geometry of the alleys and the floral composition. By the end of the Middle Ages, a couple of abbeys designed enclosed gardens (hortus conclusus) to symbolize the Garden of Mary, often represented in 14th and 15th centuries paintings.

Marcel Petitmengin was born in Nancy in January 1881. Student at the school of pharmacy and preparator in its laboratory for natural history, he received his diploma in 1904. He had already published some papers on botany and belonged to the International Academy for Geographical botany. He choose the flora of Mount Viso, in Italy, for his philosophical thesis. In the same time, he worked on greek flora with Maire, then on Primulaceae from Asia. Having published about fifty papers on botany, he died from tuberculosis in October 1908, being twenty-seven years old. Very faithful, he took part actively in protestantism in Nancy.

Born into a family of Angouleme, Charles Gaudichaud (1789-1854) became a chemist in the Navy. He sailed round the world twice and spent over a year in South America. The Academy of Sciences awarded him the Montyon prize of physiology. He was elected to that Academy in 1837, where he succeded Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. He supported relentlessly the now obsolete theory of phytons in which he firmly believed. He classified his numerous collections of plants which he had brought from his voyages and he has left an imprint on the world of natural sciences, and especially botanics. A botanical genus is named after him as a tribute to his work, as well as many classificed species.

Tingry spent his entire professional and scientific career in Geneva, after completing his pharmacy studies in Paris. An important part of his writings, unpublished and conserved in Geneva, concerns plant chemistry. His work was principally devoted to the composition and varied parts of the flower Lilium album. Although he is classified as a minerologist and inorganic chemist, it is fitting to think of him also as a botanist and innovative talent in pharmacognosis.

Who were the chemists at the Paris Royal Academy of Sciences in the time of the Lémerys ? From the nomination of Nicolas Lémery, in 1699, until his death, in 1715, thirteen members of the Academy belonged to the section of Chemistry, and twenty-four until the death of Louis Lémery in 1743. In total, some thirty members made contributions dealing with chemistry, either famous like Réaumur and Buffon, or as obscure as Deschiens de Ressons, who opposed Louis Lémery. On the institutional level, most members of the chemical were promoted up to the coveted seats of senior members (pensionnaires) and several sat among the chief officiers (directeur, sous-directeur). The others were already too old when they entered or died too early : they merely stayed in the low rank of junior fellows (élève, then adjoint), or in the middle rank of associate (associé). A feature of their academic career was the porosity between the sections : a few members made it through the grades of both the section of chemistry and another among those of the “ physical sciences” (anatomy and botany). Many also had other positions, including in education : most of them had chairs or were deputy professors at the Jardin du Roi or the Collège royal, even more than at the Faculty of Medicine. On the sociological level, family recruitment was more important within the group of chemists than among the other members : in Nicolas Lémery’s time, nearly two thirds of them belonged to a sibling or dynasty. They usually had learnt chemistry at Faculty of Medicine or practiced it in their apothecary laboratory. The apothecaries were more numerous than ever : on the fourteen of them who belonged to the Royal Academy between 1666 and 1793, seven sat next to Nicolas Lémery. Nevertheless, a higher consideration was attached to the physicians, and apothecaries such as Lémery himself became medical doctors and started lineages of physicians. Lastly, on the scientific level, there was an important porosity among the research fields : non only members of the “ mathematical sciences” sometime also published on chemistry, but the chemist Du Fay did publish in the six fields related to the six sections of the Academy during his fifteen year career. Inversely, the works of several members of the chemical section were merely devoted to medicine or botany. Lastly, on the scientific level, there was an important porosity among the research fields : non only members of the “ mathematical sciences” sometime also published on chemistry, but the chemist Du Fay did publish in the six fields related to the six sections of the Academy during his fifteen year career. Inversely, the works of several members of the chemical section were merely devoted to medicine or botany.

Philippe Cauvet undertook a military career after having obtained his pharmacist diploma in the school of Montpellier in 1854. He kept first his terms in the military school of "Val-de-Grâce" in Paris and came after some years to Strasbourg as a tutor at the "Ecole impériale du Service de santé militaire". Cauvet obtained his philosophical thesis in this town in 1861. Some years later, in 1864, he was accepted as a fellow at the school of pharmacy where he teached botany and zoology to military and civilian students. After some years in Algeria and other towns in France, he asked in 1874 to become a professor at the school of pharmacy of Nancy, but the ministry of war did not agree with the plurality of activities. Cauvet was named as the professor of materia medica at the n 1882. He remained at these two functions until his death, suddenly occured in 1890. Professor Philippe Cauvet worked mainly in botany and wrote books in this field and in natural history.

Henri Braconnot was born in Commercy in 1780. When he was 13 years old, he was bound apprentice in the pharmacy of Graux in Nancy. He remained here for two years, learning pharmacy, chemistry and botany. When the army called him, his position in Strasbourg allowed him to study. After it, he came to Paris and learned in some schools, particularly the Ecole gratuite de pharmacie. Returned in Nancy, forever, in 1802, he was then named as the chairman of the botanical garden and a member of the academy of the town, and he began his results in plant chemistry. He worked almost until his death that occurred in January 1855. Braconnot's work is essentially devoted to chemistry. His name is attached to the extractive principles of vegetables. Some orientations of his research are: plant acids, fats, extractive compounds that may have conduct him to alkaloïds, sugar obtained from saw-dust and rages, other organic plant chemicals, nitration of cellulose, and some others such as colours chemistry, hydrology, physiological chemistry, toxicology, mineralogy. He was never received as an apothecary, but pharmacy has always considered that he belonged to it.

Two main purposes were assigned to this study of medicinal prescription of spices at the time of the Roman Empire: analyze Roman pharmacopoeia of spices in reference to modern criteria and assess a new discipline, close to "ethno-botany" and "ethno-pharmacology", aiming to a new approach of drug research: "archeopharmacology". A brief overview is given of the Roman world of spices : all aromatic substances from Orient, India and Far-East held a major place which can only be compared to the role of petroleum in our modern times. The study is conducted on a thesaurus of 2600 quotations from twelve authors: Apicius, Caelius Aurelianus, Cassius Felix, Celsus, Dioscorides, Galen, Marcellus,(Anonymous) Mulonmedicina, Pelagorius, Pliny the Elder, Serenus Sammonicus and Scribonius Largus and a set of 33 medicinal spices among which: cyperus, ferulas (Asa foetida), frankincense, pepper, myrrh and saffron. Medicinal use of spices (mainly for pneumology, dermatology and gastroenterology) do not differ notably from the rest of Roman pharmacopoeia: the main criteria for prescription of spices is not their place of origin but a "therapeutic profile" which is clearly assigned to each substance by tradition. During the last decades, new methods of therapeutic research: ethno-botany and ethno-pharmacology have been used extensively to explore traditional medicines. A new discipline is ready to emerge: "archeo-pharmacology", aiming towards a drug research based on Ancient texts.

The Ecole d'anatomie et de chirurgie navale de Rochefort was created on February 5, 1722 by Jean Cochon-Dupuy. Anatomy, internal medicine and botany were taught together with the art of bandages. The major professor was the first medicine doctor of the port, afterwards came the first surgeon. At the end of the XVIIIth century the number of subjects and teachers increased. Many terms of probation were also organized. This school was closed in 1964.

The founding of the Schools of Pharmacy was celebrated in the Year XII by the issuing of fifty silver medals engraved by Brenet and intended for these schools. Only two of them have since been located. But, the "Brenet medals" have also served as prizes in competitions in the School of Pharmacy of Paris since the Year XII and for the Pharmaceutical Society. The autor is in possession of one, also bestowed in the Year XII, but for a "Second Prize in Botany" in Rouen, a city which was at that time without an official teaching institution in medicine or pharmacy. Its recipient was probably a medical student taking courses organized in the Hotel-Dieu of Rouen.