THOMÉ RODRIGUES SOBRAL (1759-1829) E A VIRTUDE FEBRÍFUGA DE UM GRANDE NÚMERO DE QUINAS

AbstractIn the beginning of the 19th century, Portugal received from Brazil several barks that were used as cure for fevers for the purpose of chemical analysis. These analyses were intended to determine the principle compositional components responsible for the febrifuge power of these barks. At the University of Coimbra, the samples were analyzed under the supervision of Thomé Rodrigues Sobral, the Director of the university's Chemical Laboratory. In the interpretation of the obtained results, Sobral put forward his own ideas about the febrifuge principles of the analyzed barks in relation to their chemical composition. Here, we refer to both Rodrigues Sobral's reported results and his ideas about the febrifuge principle.