Edward Stone (natural philosopher) piece of bark from a willow tree and was struck by its extremely bitter taste. Knowing that the bark of the Peruvian cinchona tree − from which quinine (used in the treatment of malarial fevers) is derived − has a similarly bitter taste, he surmised that the willow might also have therapeutic properties. Stone's interest in willows was due to the ancient "doctrine of signatures" – whereby the cause of a disease offers a clue to its treatment. According to Stone: "As this tree delights in a moist or wet soil, where agues chiefly abound, the general maxim that many
Analgesic potential hazards of topical anesthetics entering the bloodstream when applied in large doses to the skin without medical supervision. These topical anesthetics contain anesthetic drugs such as lidocaine, tetracaine, benzocaine, and prilocaine in a cream, ointment, or gel. The word "analgesic" derives from Greek "an-" (, "without"), "álgos" (, "pain"), and "-ikos" (, forming adjectives). Such drugs were usually known as anodynes before the 20th century. Some novel and investigational analgesics include subtype-selective voltage-gated sodium channel blockers such as funapide and raxatrigine, as well as multimodal agents such as ralfinamide.. Analgesic An analgesic or painkiller is any member of the