Abstract
DURING the past year, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record (32, Nos. 1 and 3) included two attractive Guides (Nos. 15 and 16) to the Herb and Medicinal Garden which was opened in 1938. The provision of a medical plant garden was considered justified in view of the large number of plant drugs in use in spite of the recent increase in the number of 'chemical' and 'biological' substances utilized in medical practice. Guide No. 16 includes a survey by A. H. Graves of the use of plants in medicine from Greek times up to the present day, which illustrates the growth of our knowledge from the relatively advanced outlook of the Greeks, through the period clouded by superstitions of the early Middle Ages, finally to the very marked advances of modern times. This survey is written in a style to attract the interest of general and scientific readers, and is illustrated by numerous woodcuts of the activities of the early herbalists. The historical survey is followed by an account by Prof. C. W. Ballard of Columbia University, and collaborators, of the medical uses of the species commonly regarded as drug plants. In the case of some of those officially recognized in the United States Pharmacopeia or the National Formulary, such as Aloe vera, Ephedra equisetina, Atropa belladonna, etc., some indication of the amount used annually and the possibilities of home cultivation within the United States receive comment. In the case of some imported plant drugs, the shortage caused by the present crisis has indicated clearly that the encouragement of home cultivation of the plants and their study with a view to possible synthesis of the medicinal constituents is a matter worthy of serious consideration.
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Herbs and Medicinal Plants. Nature 153, 707 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153707b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153707b0