THE HISTORY OF HERBAL MEDICINE IN NORTH AMERICA (Part Eight)

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THE HISTORY OF HERBAL MEDICINE IN NORTH AMERICA

 

(Part Eight)

 

By RFD Columnist, Todd Caldecott

of Clinical Herbal Studies

Wild Rose College Of Natural Healing

Calgary, Alberta

 

Email: phyto

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In this major series, RFD Columnist, Todd Caldecott explores the history of

herbal medicine in North America, with the view of fostering a better

understanding of the issues that face modern herbalists and a greater

appreciation of the evolution of the relationships between alternative,

complimentary and conventional medicine.

 

Herbal medicine in North America has a long and venerable tradition, from the

First Nations practices that were in existence thousands of years before the

first colonists arrived, to the development of four-year clinical programs at

the turn of the last century.

 

The practice of physiomedicalism

 

With the scientific discoveries of the 18th and 19th centuries, the medical

sciences increasingly adopted a mechanistic conception of the body, and indeed,

of all life. These early medical scientists believed that all activities of the

body were subject to the same physical and chemical laws that had been recently

developed, and that the body was essentially a machine comprised of lifeless

constituents. The physiomedicalists however, wholly rejected such a conception

of the body, and continued to embrace and build upon Thomson’s conception of the

“innate heat,” which became synonymous with the “vital force.”

 

Central to the practice of physiomedicalism was the conception of the healing

power of nature, vis medicatrix naturae. Thus all medicaments given by

physiomedicalist physicians were intended to restore this vital capacity, not

diminish it, as was the end result of mercury administration and blood letting.

These remedies were termed sanative or restorative remedies, which not only

assisted the activity of the vital force, but helped to sustain it. Rather than

imparting any special or intrinsic power to the body, as is the Chinese and

Indian conception of restorative remedies like Ginseng (Panax ginseng) or

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), physiomedicalists believed that sanative

remedies simply modified the vital force to promote a favorable change in the

body, such as the elimination of “morbid wastes” and the proper digestion and

assimilation of nutrients.

 

While the same pharmacies that supplied the Regular physicians also carried a

variety of botanic remedies, physiomedicalists preferred to buy their remedies

from dealers that specialized in herbal medicine for fear of adulteration.

Initially, Samuel Thomson and Sons provided the bulk of the remedies on the

market, but this was soon augmented by several herbal companies, including

Godfrey Meyer and Ward Sears (Haller 1997, 96-97). The early physiomedicalists

took great pride in ensuring that their patients had access to the freshest and

best quality herbal remedies around, but following the decline of Thomsonism,

fewer and fewer herbal pharmacies remained to service them. By the mid to late

1800’s physiomedicalists increasingly depended upon the Eclectic druggists, most

notably the Lloyd Brothers of Cincinnati, but also from firms that are

recognizable today, including Parke, Davis and Co., as well as Eli Lilly of

Indiana (Haller 1997, 97). Nonetheless, many physiomedicalists were

uncomfortable with this trend, especially when the great Eclectic John King

initiated a relentless pursuit of “resinoids,” a class of “constituents” first

derived from Mandrake (Podophyllum peltatum), which King figured to be the

ultimate medicinal substance. As a result, many physiomedicalists lost faith in

the pharmaceutical companies, instead collecting and preparing their remedies

themselves.

 

Of the more important debates in medicine that occurred during the latter part

of the 19th century was the research of Robert Koch, who devised a method of

identifying bacteria, and established the bacterial cause of many infectious

diseases, including anthrax, tuberculosis, and cholera. Despite some early

confusion between the terms “bacteria” and “virus” Regular medicine rapidly

embraced his work and applied it to the practice of medicine. Taking the lead

from Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine, researchers developed bacterial

antitoxins, which, while neutralizing the effect of the bacterial toxins, did

little to actually treat the infection itself. Based on these middling results,

physiomedicalists rejected such theories, especially the elder among them, who

referred to Samuel Thomson’s success in the treatment of such “bacterial”

disease as cholera. To the physiomedicalists, disease remained a manifestation

of some “wrong of life,” not specific etiological agents like little

“bugs.” Nonetheless, the burgeoning interest in bacteriology presented an

important challenge to the physiomedicalists, especially if they wanted to

continue to learn and work in a hospital environment. Eventually, many of the

physiomedicalists did come around to accepting the tenets of bacteriology, but

rather than a wholesale acceptance of bacteria as a cause, they continued to

believe that bacterial infection represented some disturbance of the vital

capacity of the body.

 

CONTINUING

 

 

 

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