Jonathan Pereira
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Jonathan Pereira FRS (22 May 1804, in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
– 20 January 1853) was a
pharmacologist Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...
, author of the ''Elements of Materia Medica'', a standard work. He was examiner on the subject in the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
.


Life

Pereira graduated as apothecary in 1823 after studying at the Aldersgate General Dispensary and
St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 by Rahere, and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by ...
. In 1826 he became lecturer on chemistry at the
Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...
and in 1832 he was an established physician in London, being appointed professor of materia medica and lecturer in chemistry at the
Aldersgate Medical School The Aldersgate Medical School was a medical school in east London, in existence from about 1825 to 1848. One of many private medical schools of the period, it had popular lecturers on its staff, and proved a serious rival to St. Bartholomew's Hospi ...
. In 1839 he became professor and lecturer at the
London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and London Borough of Tow ...
, where he received the position of assistant physician in 1841. Jonathan Pereira delivered the introductory lectures on Materia Medica in 1842 at the
Pharmaceutical Society The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPharmS or RPS) is the body responsible for the leadership and support of the pharmacy profession (pharmacists) within England, Scotland, and Wales. It was created along with the General Pharmaceutical Council ...
and one year later he was appointed as Professor of Materia Medica by this institution, examining the subject in the
School of Pharmacy A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of fo ...
of the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
. His subject area was the forerunner of pharmacology and he published a series of research papers on plant drugs. Pereira later resigned in 1852, the result of a dispute between the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society following the illegal publications of his lecture material. After this incident another teacher in materia medica was not appointed, instead Robert Bentley, who was a professor of botany at the time, was asked to combine the lectures with his botany lectures.


Pereira's Materia Medica

His interest in the area of
crude drugs Crude drugs are drugs of plant, animal and microbial origin that contain natural substances that have undergone only the processes of collection and drying. The term natural substances refers to those substances found in nature that have not had ...
began when he realised that little was known about those imported into Britain. After years of research he acquired an extensive knowledge of the history of origin, morphology and
histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...
of crude drugs where he was later appointed professor of materia medica at the London Hospital. His book on
Materia Medica ''Materia medica'' ( lit.: 'medical material/substance') is a Latin term from the history of pharmacy for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing (i.e., medications). The term derives f ...
was the first great English work on
Pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...
and he was foremost in putting the knowledge and use of drugs on a scientific footing. During one of his first lectures held at the School of Pharmacy he spoke about ‘material medica consisting of three parts: (1) pharmacognosy, pharmacology, pharmacopathia or the history of simple drugs; (2) pharmacy, and (3) pharmacodynamics. It was here that he referred to the study of crude drugs under the name pharmacognosy instead of materia medica in what appeared to be the first time in which it was used, when in fact it was introduced by Seydler in 1817. It took many years until the term was officially used as the name of the subject taught to pharmacy students. Students of Pharmacy studying for their major examinations were given the opportunity of examining the drugs further as well as being introduced to the microscope as another method for the examination of drugs in their powdered form such as starch, with the exception of vegetable drugs. Although where not being examined on authenticity and quality, Pereira encouraged his students to investigate authenticity and quality of drugs, something that he was carrying out a lot of research on at the time. This was considered an important part ofon 20 the pharmacists role as Jacob Bell pointed out ‘the reputation of pharmacy depended upon pharmacists having this expertise. Pereira was named a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in May 1838. Two years later he received the degree of M.D. "honoris causa" from Erlangen University. In his memory a marble bust was erected in the London Hospital and the Pharmaceutical Society founded the Pereira Medal and a scholarship fund with his name.


Death and Grave

He died on 20 January 1853 and was buried in
Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...
. His monument was designed and created by
Charles Harriott Smith Charles Harriott Smith (1792–1864) was an English architect and architectural sculptor involved in several prestigious projects, ranging from the National Gallery to the Houses of Parliament. His iconic works include the capital of Nelson ...
.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis


Works

* 1838: ''Vorlesungen über Materia medica, oder über die Herkunft, die Qualität, die Zusammensetzung und die Wirksamkeit der Arzneistoffe, geh. 1835-1836 in der Aldergate's Schule zu London'' . Vol. 2 . Kollmenn, Leipzig 183
Digital edition
by the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...
* 1843: ''The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics'' : in 2 Vol. - Philadelphia : Lea & Blanchard
Digital edition
by the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...
** ''4. ed., enl. and impr. including notices of most of the medicinal substances in use in the civilised world and forming an encyclopaedia of Materia Medica'': Vol. 1-2.2 - London : Longman .a. 1854-1857
Digital edition
by the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...
* 1854
Lectures on Polarized Light, 2nd edition
Baden Powell editor, via
HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...


References

* Shellard, E. J. (1980), "A History of British Pharmacognosy (1980–1982)", ''The Pharmaceutical Journal'', vol 226-28, pp. 78, 108, 189, 201, 371, 406, 536, 631, 774


External links

* J. Jacobs & Haneman (1906
Jonathan Pereira
in
The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Jonathan 1804 births 1853 deaths Pharmacists from London British pharmacologists Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry English Sephardi Jews Place of death missing