Aromatum, et simplicium aliquot medicamentorum apud Indos
The Sephardi physician Garcia de Orta (1501? – 1568) was a pioneer of tropical medicine and ethnobotany. Working mainly in Goa, he played a crucial role in transmitting Asian plants and medicinal practices to Europe. His Colloquios dos simples, e drogas (1563), the first book printed in Goa, was translated to Latin by Carolus Clusius (1526-1609). As an agent for the Fugger family, the bankers of the Habsburgs, he became familiar with plants introduced from the New World. Including that knowledge in his translation, this tract is an impressive compilation of indigenous pharmacology of the East and West Indies.
