Herbs for Health
Preface Of late years there has been a growing demand from all sections of the country, by persons who are interested in Natural means of combating disease, for a book, which would give a concise, yet comprehensive treatise on Medicinal Plants, their use and their compatible combinations. This book has been written to fill that need. It represents years of painstaking accumulations of data based upon practical experience. I think it is, however, appropriate to explain with a few introductory words why Herbs are better suited for the treatment of diseases than chemicals and other substances foreign to the human body. Herbs are the product of Nature, containing many substances very finely distributed, which are necessary for building up and maintaining the organs of the body, and are of the greatest help in the performance of the vital functions. They contain these substances partly in the same condition as they are present in the human system, allowing direct assimilation, and partly so that they can be readily taken up in the circulation of the blood, after undergoing certain changes in the digestive tract. Chemistry of today has accomplished wonderful results
in many ways, but all the laboratories in the world will never be able
to supplant the remarkably fine process which takes place in the living
cell; they will never successfully imitate the wonderful methods that Nature
uses in performing its work in the plant, as well as, in the human body.
Our late American wizard,
Remedies made from chemicals and minerals will never stand in favorable comparison with the products of Nature - the living cell of the plant, the final result of the rays of the sun, the mother of all life. It is true that our body contains minerals, but the minerals cannot be taken up directly by the system, they must be obtained from a living cell of either plant or animal life. Plants have the power of taking up mineral substances through their roots from the soil and assimilate and transform them in such a way that they may be utilized by the organs of the human body, thus becoming useful as food, as well as, medicine. The human body, on the other hand, has not the ability of directly assimilating mineral substances and therefore cannot utilize them in any way. By making this comparison, which truth cannot be denied, we can understand why a harmless herb has often a stronger and more beneficial effect than the strongest chemical. This has also been conclusively proven by the newest discoveries of the different Vitamins, substances which, although they are contained only in very small quantities in plant and animal life, are essential constituents in the food, performing vital function in the system. These vitamins are entirely lacking in minerals. Animal and human bodies are composed of certain well defined elements, in certain well defined proportions. If any of these elements are present in over-abundance and others are partly or wholly lacking, an abnormal condition will be brought about, causing disease. This lack or deficiency of these vital elements, or the over-abundance cannot be balanced by administering mineral substances that cannot be taken up by the system. It would be as ineffective as trying to fill a sieve by pouring water through it. Herbs contain the vital elements - Vitamins and Organic Minerals - that are deficient or lacking in the diseased body. They contain them in such finely distributed and prepared state that they may be readily assimilated by the system and conveyed to the blood. They also promote the elimination of waste matter and poisons from the system by simple, natural means. When correctly used they support Nature in its fight
against disease; while chemicals, not being assimilable, add to the accumulation
of morbid matter and only simulate improvement by suppressing the symptoms.
Natural remedies are only those which Nature produces and botanical medication
is the oldest branch of medicine. It undoubtedly suggested itself
to man instinctively, and there is nothing mysterious about medicinal plants.
They are God's gift to
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall be meat. "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein is life, I have given green herb for meat: and it was so." Genesis 1:29, 30. "He caused the grass to grow for cattle, and the herb for service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth." Psalms 104 Verse 14. Health is within your grasp - reach for it. Perhaps it will be an effort at the beginning; perhaps it will take a little longer than you would like, but in the end, your efforts will be crowned with. that energy that radiates from a healthy body and which spells Success and Happiness. A word of caution is appropriate at this time. Be sure to obtain your supply of herbs from a reliable source. To obtain the maximum good results, herbs should be fresh and true to type. The herbs mentioned in this book should be obtainable in any first class Drug Store. If unable to procure them in your neighborhood, they may be obtained in best quality and at reasonable prices at Nature's Herb Co., 1116 Market St., San Francisco, Calif. (See ad in rear of book.) Yours for Good Health, THE AUTHOR. |