Royal Prussia-17 th century; history of botany; historical herbaria-17 th century; herbarium vivum; ethnobotany w w w. z a p i s k i h i s t o r y c z n e. p l 48 K a t a r z y n a P ę k a c k a-F a l k o w s k a [282] isolated observations of court physicians and surgeons published in the Miscellanea Curiosa 5 , in the 17 th century and in the first two decades of the 18 th no works on botany were actually brought out 6. Johann Philipp Breyne also mentioned this wistfully when he was describing the state of natural history research in the territory of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland 7. The only estimable exception was Royal Prussia. The great cities of this province, led by Gdańsk, were important centres of historia naturalis studies such as botany, mineralogy, zoology, and medicine. Since the 16 th century, Gdańsk was the home of scholars (Gelehrte) and amateurs (Liebhaber) interested in native and foreign plants not only for purely aesthetic, commercial or practical reasons 8 but also-at least in the case of some-for purely cognitive purposes. Numerous works and articles have been devoted to botanical pursuits among the Gdańsk citizens of old, focusing among others on their fascination with plantae exoticae, collector and bibliophile passions as well as, significantly, autochorology (or floristics) 9. It should be remembered that studies of

The article focuses on British contribution to the development of palliative and hospice care in Poland in the 1980s and beyond. It is based on archival research in the hospices in Cracow and Poznan and broad-scoped Polish journals' review. The social background of the hospice movement in Poland is described. We explore the role of inspiration and help of Dame Cicely Saunders and other British leaders in the transfer of British hospice philosophy and practice of palliative care to the medical community in Poland. This study demonstrates the importance of institutions for the formal exchange of medical information.

Background: Plica as a disease entity appeared fi rst in the 13th century. Its aetiology is still unknown and not fully understood. Being, in fact, an irreversible condition of tangling and felting the hair, its origin was interpreted in various ways, from religious ones, through lack of hygiene to mental illness. Although p. polonica originates from Eastern and Central Europe, and p. neuropathica, typical of Indian people, was fi rst described in England, many characteristics connect these two conditions. Aim and Objectives: The study aimed to review the plica species over the centuries and to compare p. neuropathica and p. polonica. Materials and Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched for medical articles, books and case studies on plica published up 1884 to 2020. We conducted a systematic and critical review of the literature to compare p. polonica and p. neuropathica. Results: Plica polonica and Plica neuropathica are the same disease entity. Conclusion: The variety of names and interpretations of the disease has made plica a condition still to be fully explained.

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