De ipecacuanha novo Gallorum antidysenterico. Resp. C[hristophe] F[riedrich] Kneussel.

There is evidence that amoebic dysentery was known to Hippocrates. The history of treatment begins with the use of ipecacuanha, the dried root of Cephaelis ipecacuanha, a plant from Brazil.  This was first mentioned as a remedy in Purchas’s Pilgrimes, 1625.