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[Andeerz]

Penicillin comes from Penicillium Chrysogenum which is a mold that grows inside on food. Its only reasonably that a race that lives inside 90% of the time would discover that before humans would. And elves probably never would.

I mean they live in caves and eat fungus.

Yeah, but I think you underestimate how common an occurrence mold and fungus is, inside and out.  Believe me, mold has been exceedingly obvious to people throughout the entirety of history.  Just look at and smell a bale of hay after the rain or morning dew, or have bread without preservatives sitting around for a few weeks.  People have also been aware of and eating mushrooms since before the dawn of civilization.  I don't think dwarves would be any more likely to discover mold-derived antibiotics any sooner than humans; at least, not for the reason you state.

Also, I was surprised to find out that syringes were, in fact, known about and used during the tech time-frame of this game!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syringe#Historical_timeline
Just putting that out there, just in case!!!

I know someone could probably easily mod it in there, but being able to request soap from caravans would be nice. I second the suggestion to have doctor dwarves be more highly motivated to actually look at a patient.

I third this suggestion.

 

[ungulateman]

You could use gnomeblight to kill off all those gnomes gnawing on your dwarves.

[Andeerz]

OR THOSE DAMNED DARK GNOMES STEALING MY BOOZE!!! >:@

[harborpirate]

Well gnomeblight is planned to become a strong poison I don't think you would want that in a medicine.
Futhermore antibiotics weren't known at the time (some people care for this but not me just be prepared for it.)
In general I think dwarfs would need their own medicine not human like medicines.

I have to think that Golden Salve is in there to counteract its effects, though currently it doesn't do anything either.

As for medicines, anything beyond simple herbal treatments would be out of place.

[Medicine Man]

You have to remember one thing. Dwarf Fortress is a FANTASY game. It dosen't have to be 100% accurate.

[TheyTarget]

Penicillin comes from Penicillium Chrysogenum which is a mold that grows inside on food. Its only reasonably that a race that lives inside 90% of the time would discover that before humans would. And elves probably never would.

I mean they live in caves and eat fungus.

Yeah, but I think you underestimate how common an occurrence mold and fungus is, inside and out.  Believe me, mold has been exceedingly obvious to people throughout the entirety of history.  Just look at and smell a bale of hay after the rain or morning dew, or have bread without preservatives sitting around for a few weeks.  People have also been aware of and eating mushrooms since before the dawn of civilization.  I don't think dwarves would be any more likely to discover mold-derived antibiotics any sooner than humans; at least, not for the reason you state.

Also, I was surprised to find out that syringes were, in fact, known about and used during the tech time-frame of this game!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syringe#Historical_timeline
Just putting that out there, just in case!!!

I know someone could probably easily mod it in there, but being able to request soap from caravans would be nice. I second the suggestion to have doctor dwarves be more highly motivated to actually look at a patient.

I third this suggestion.

 

Well clearly Penicillium Chrysogenum doesn't exist in DF, and probably never will. I just feel a race that almost exclusively eats mushrooms, would be more familiar with the properties of such things. Why does someone discover something first? I just think, the increased exposure to it some one would catch on. And I'm not saying people don't eat mushrooms, I'm saying they don't eat just mushrooms, and drink alcohol only, unless it would kill them otherwise.

[alphonseclark]

medicines are for those who want to live without that nothing

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Well, what were the realistic responses to infectious disease or injury in the time period DF is modeling? If you cross out everything that wasn't tried or didn't work, you're left with a pretty short list- hygiene, quarantine, one or two herbs that induced fever/vomiting, the occasional weird thing like cowpox...

[Jake]

Actually, once you filter out the pseudoscience and quasi-mystical cobblers that's sprung up latterly, there's more scientific basis for herbalism than you might first think. A hell of a lot of modern pharmaceuticals are derived from plants, and most of them had been used for the same ailments by the local shaman or wise-woman for centuries beforehand. The Canon Of Medicine even stresses the importance of clinical trials, in 1025 no less.

[Silverionmox]

Ahem. Some small threads:

2007 http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4487.msg61947#msg61947
2008 http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=20915.msg223922#msg223922
2010 Antidotes, medicine and vaccines
2010 http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=51263.msg1094834#msg1094834

And the big one:
2009 Surgery/Medicine in DF

[Jake]

Another thought occurs to me. Certain types of booze could be used as an alternative to soap when cleaning wounds, and as a disinfectant generally. Ideally you'd want the medics to use the highest-strength, lowest-value booze available first, of course.

[Andeerz]

Well clearly Penicillium Chrysogenum doesn't exist in DF, and probably never will. I just feel a race that almost exclusively eats mushrooms, would be more familiar with the properties of such things. Why does someone discover something first? I just think, the increased exposure to it some one would catch on. And I'm not saying people don't eat mushrooms, I'm saying they don't eat just mushrooms, and drink alcohol only, unless it would kill them otherwise.

Hmmmm... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic#cite_note-5

From the article:

Many treatments for infections prior to the beginning of the twentieth century were based on medicinal folklore. Treatments for infection in ancient Chinese medicine using plants with antimicrobial properties were described over 2,500 years ago.[4][5] Many other ancient cultures, including the ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks used molds and plants to treat infections.[6][7]

Cool.  You would be right!!!

Also: Thanks for the links Silverionmox!  I forgot all about those threads.  The last one is especially awesome.

[Bohandas]

I like this idea,but some of the cures are just plain stupid sounding (sorry but tranqilisers to cure drug addiction?)

It sounds reasonable enough to me.