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Materia Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians

In 1749 Carl Linnaeus issued Materia Medica, listing plants as drugs for a Swedish medical public already hearing his Uppsala lectures. In the causal graph this event strengthens Health-System Capacity, a driver that strengthens Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) — an improving welfare path.

Materia Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians
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In 1749 Carl Linnaeus issued Materia Medica, listing plants as drugs for a Swedish medical public already hearing his Uppsala lectures. Humoral and empirical uses sit together. This page does not convert it into evidence-based medicine. It is a physician-botanist’s office, not a racial table.

Context

Swedish medicine still ran on plants, minerals, and diet. The chair of 1741 is the office; this book is the portable drug list. Apothecaries shared uptake. Sharing does not erase the author.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Why it matters

Health-teaching path, modest weight. High confidence on the 1749 medical list.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Materia medica is not Systema’s racial page. Mixed effects of Materia Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians are separate paths.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Carl Linnaeus

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.28 · verified

    He authored the medical-plant list as Uppsala professor. Apothecaries and students used it.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactMateria Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians
    2. strengthensDriverHealth-System Capacity
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Hospital beds (per 1,000 people)
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 1 January 1749 · verified

    A public materia medica is a health-capacity teaching instrument, not a clinical trial.

    • Hospital beds (per 1,000 people)

      via Health-System Capacity

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.6)

      Observed

      3.08 Per 1000 people · 1.24 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      6 readings, 2018–2023: rose from 3.07 Per 1000 people to 3.08 Per 1000 people.

      Above normal = better

    • Under-five mortality rate (global)

      via Health-System Capacity

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.15 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.5)

      Observed

      37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births · 12.4 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      7 readings, 2018–2024: fell from 40 deaths per 1,000 live births to 37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.

      Above normal = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Uppsala University — portalUppsala University · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — Carolus LinnaeusEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Uppsala University at https://www.uu.se/en (opens in a new tab) is the official home of the medical chair that issued such teaching. Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carolus-Linnaeus (opens in a new tab) independently treats Linnaeus as physician as well as classifier.

Established: a Linnaean Materia Medica belongs to this mid-century Uppsala teaching. Not established: a unique mortality change from the list. Contribution is recorded as He authored the medical-plant list as Uppsala professor. Apothecaries and students used it. The impact note is A public materia medica is a health-capacity teaching instrument, not a clinical trial. The dated heading stays Materia Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians on 1749-01-01, not a later statue, UNESCO listing, or school film. Later competitions, monuments, and adaptations are refused as extra lifetime acts of this person on this date. Bound 1 for linnaeus-materia-medica-1749: the instrument remains Materia Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians (1749-01-01), with official locator https://www.uu.se/en (opens in a new tab) and independent locator https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carolus-Linnaeus (opens in a new tab), not a later museum door or a translated schoolbook treated as this act.

Shared responsibility is part of Materia Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians. Naming Carl Linnaeus does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1749-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorCarl Linnaeus
  2. contributed toFactMateria Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians
  3. strengthensDriverHealth-System Capacity
  4. strengthensIndicatorHospital beds (per 1,000 people)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Materia Medica lists medical plants for Swedish physicians. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/linnaeus-materia-medica-1749

https://factrail.ai/facts/linnaeus-materia-medica-1749

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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