Medical toxicology: a distinct medical subspecialty sprouting from ancient roots.

摘要

The term "toxicology" is derived from the Greek words toxikos or toxa ("bow") and toxicon ("the poison in which the arrows were dipped"). Today this term is used to define the science of poisons - their source, chemical composition, effects, tests and antidotes. Recognition of the potential toxic effects of various substances is probably as old as mankind, dating back 18,000 years to the prehistoric Masai hunters of Kenya who used poison arrows.