pharmaceutical names

[Guest guest]

Karen wrote:

<<

A pet peeve of mine....Pharmaecutical Latin is little used outside of

Chinese medicine. I'd far rather say the " branch of Cinnamomum cassia

Blume " than " Ramulus Cinnamomi cassiae. " All the research and botanical

literature on herbs is done using botanical Latin and when students don't

know that Ma Huang is Ephedra sinica, >>

 

Julie wrote:

Karen, what exactly is your pet peeve? Do you want pharmaceutcal latin to be

used, or not? and why? Your passionate reply somehow clouded your actual

point -- for me, at least.

 

I think I can write:

Karen was saying she doesn't like pharmaceutical latin.

I feel the same way. Pharmaceutical names, besides being merely perversions

of the botanical names (and usually just the genera, at that), can be

misleading. For instance, Su He Xiang is the resin of (botanical name)

Liquidambar orientalis (the tree Lu Lu Tong comes from). A reasonable

pharmaceutical name might be Succus Liquidambaris. Instead, the

pharmaceutical name is Styrax Liquidis. Meanwhile, An Xi Xiang, botanical

name Styrax benzoin, has the pharmaceutic name Benzoinum.

Ru Xiang, frankincense, botanical name Boswellia carterii, has the

pharmaceutical name Gummi Olibanum, which doesn't tell you anything...