A fascinating look at the herbal and plant-based remedies popular in Britain through history
The debt medicine owes to botany is not commonly appreciated
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In the past, medicine relied almost entirely on plants, and even today, many western medicines are plant derived. Despite this, historians have largely neglected the study of domestic medicine, practiced by the ordinary person and passed down through generations, in favor of ‘official medicine’.
The History of Domestic Plant Medicine
brings together manuscripts, letters, diaries, personal oral interviews and other primary evidence to produce a detailed picture of the medicinal use of native plants in Britain from 1700 to the present day. Recording for posterity this neglected aspect of our heritage, it is a valuable contribution to the study of the folklore of modern Britain and a fascinating piece of social history.