Johann Jakob Wepfer

Johann Jakob Wepfer (December 23, 1620 – January 26, 1695) was a Swiss pathologist and pharmacologist who was a native of Schaffhausen.

Wepfer is remembered for his work involving vascular anatomy of the brain, and the study of cerebrovascular disease.

He conducted experiments on the toxicity of water hemlock, hellebore, monkshood,[1] and warned against the usage of arsenic, antimony, and mercury in medicine.

In the fields of pharmacology/toxicology he published an influential work on water and poison hemlock called Cicutae aquaticae historia et noxae (1679).

[2] This contained the first reports of toxicity of plants from the genus Cicuta, ultimately attributed to compounds such as cicutoxin and oenanthotoxin.