The Physick Garden: Ancient Cures for Modern Maladies

In this fascinating book on the history of herbalism, follow along with Alice Smith as she traces the use of 80 different plants through the ages, looking at the ingenious and sometimes quite dangerous ways they were used. The ancient practice of using plants for healing is responsible not only for or the names of common plants we might find in our backyards or public parks, but for a lot of our modern pharmaceutical knowledge. Smith tells the incredible stories of the Italian Renaissance women who dropped the very poisonous belladonna in their eyes, the attempts to use comfrey to heal broken bones, and the use of St. John's wort to heal wounds and even treat depression. From head to toe, this book reveals the history of herbalism in lively color illustrations, and shows us that folk remedies are really not always so different from modern medical remedies after all.

(This book may contain a sharpie mark on the top of bottom edge and may show mild signs of shelfwear.)