[C.P. Thunberg and his voyage to Japan (5). Mercury water therapy fpr syphilis (continued)].

The formula for the mercury water therapy introduced into Japan by Thunberg for the treatment of syphilis was received in 1742 by van Swieten, a Dutch medical doctor who studied under Boerhaave and who later became a professor at Vienna Univ., from Sanchez, a Russian medical doctor. After trying it personally for the treatment of the sexual disease for 12 years, van Swieten tested it in 128 patients at St. Marx's Hospital in 1754. It spread throughout Europe when it was published by van Swieten after confirming its safety in these patients. The formula was listed in Pharmacopoeia of different countries from the 1830's to the 1930's under name "van Swieten Liquid." In Japan, it spread widely through Kohgyu Yoshio, a Japanese-Dutch interpreter who was taught it by Thunberg, and his pupils. The first (1886) through 5th (1932) edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia listed corrosive sublimate as an oral drug for syphilis. The indicated dosage is within the range of van Swieten's original formula.