Anton von Störck was an Austrian physician who was a native of Saulgau in Upper Swabia. Both of Störck's parents died when he was young, and he spent his early years as an orphan in a Viennese poorhouse. He studied medicine under Gerard van Swieten in Vienna, and received his degree in 1757. He rose through the academic ranks at the University of Vienna, and would later become deacon of the medical faculty and rector at the University. In 1767 he treated empress Maria Theresa of Austria for smallpox, and after her recovery he became her personal physician. Störck is remembered for his clinical research of various herbs, and their associated toxicity and medicinal properties. His studies are considered to be the pioneering work of experimental pharmacology and his method can be regarded as forming a blueprint for the clinical trials of modern medicine. He was convinced that plants regarded as poisonous still had medicinal applications if employed in carefully controlled quantities. Störck was particularly interested in the medical possibilities of plants such as hemlock, henbane, jimsonweed and autumn crocus. His experiments with these plants involved a three-step process; initially used on animals, followed by a personal trial, and finally given to his patients, all the while maintaining a "sliding-scale" approach to determine the optimum dosage. In 1758, Störck became 'first physician' to the Vienna urban institute for the poor. From 1764 he was physician to Emperor Franz I. Stephan of Frankfurt am Maine and the Dukes Joseph and Leopold. He was a member of numerous European scientific societies and was made a Baron in 1775. His brother Matthias, also a doctor, became 'body physician' to the Grand Duke of Toskana and was also made a Baron in 1779. Störck's numerous Latin medical tracts, detailing his experiments into the therapeutic effects of poisonous plants, excited great interest and were translated into German, French, English, Dutch and Portuguese, rapidly becoming influential medical texts throughout Europe. Berthold Seemann named :File:Elaeocarpus storckii00.jpg|Elaeocarpus storckii in his honour.
Libellus, quo demonstratur: cicutam non solum usu interno tutissime exhiberi, sed et esse simul remedium valde utile in multis morbis, qui hucusque curatu impossibiles dicebantur, Vienna, 1760 by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Supplementum necessarium de cicuta. Trattner, Vindobonae 1761 by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Libellus, quo demonstratur: stramonium, hyosciamum, aconitum non solum tuto posse exhiberi usu interno hominibus, verum et ea esse remedia in multis morbis maxime salutifera, Vienna, 1762
Libellus, quo demonstratur: Colchici autumnalis radicem non solum tuto posse exhiberi hominibus, sed et ejus usu interno curari quandoque morbos difficillimos, qui aliis remediis non ceduntdicem, Vienna: J. T. Trattner, 1763
Libellus, quo continuantur experimenta et observationes circa nova sua medicamenta, Vienna: J T Trattner, 1765, 1769
Libellus, quo demonstratur: Herbam veteribus dictam flammulam Jovis posse tuto et magna cum utilitate exhiberi aegrotantibus, 1769: Deutsch von S. Schintz, Zürich 1764
Zwo Abhandlungen vom Nutzen und Gebrauch des Brennkrauts und des weißen Dyptam, Nürnberg 1769 and The Burning Bush by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Libellus de usu medico Pulsatillae nigricantis, Vienna 1771; German edition, Frankfurt und Leipzig 1771
Medicinisch-praktischer Unterricht für die Feld und Landwundärzte der österreichischen Staaten, 2 vols. Vienna: J T Trattner 1776, 1786, 1789; in Latin. von J. M. Schosulan, 1777, 1784, 1791; in Dutch, Rotterdam 1787 by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
Praecepta medico-practica in usum chirurgorum castrensium et ruralium ditionum austriacarum, Vienna: Rudolph Graeffer, 1777, pp. 586 /
