The document discusses the long history of human use of various plants for medicinal and agricultural purposes, dating back thousands of years in many cases. Garlic has been cultivated and used medicinally for over 7,000 years. Cannabis use dates back 12,000 years. Olives were first domesticated between 8,000-6,000 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean. Written records of herbal remedies date back over 5,000 years to ancient Sumerian texts.

5.  At the 60,000-year-old
burial site of a
Neanderthal man,
researchers found eight
species of flowering
plants—laid there, some
surmise, to fortify the
man as he journeyed to
the next life.
 Evidence of use of herbal
remedies goes back some
60 000 years to a burial
site in a cave in northern
Iraq, which was uncovered
in 1960

6.  The history of
cannabis use goes
back as far as 12,000
years, which places
the plant
among humanity's
oldest cultivated
crops, according to
information in the
book "Marihuana: The
First Twelve Thousand
Years

7.  The olive was first
domesticated in the
Eastern
Mediterranean
between 8,000 and
6,000 years ago,
according to new
research.

8.  Garlic is one of the earliest
documented plants used for
medicinal purposes. It has
been used for over 7000 years
and is native to Central Asia.
 It was found in Egyptian
pyramids and ancient Greek
temples and has Biblical
references.
 There are notations about
garlic in medical texts from
Greece, Egypt, Rome, China
and India! Many of these places
used the garlic is similar ways,
even though they weren’t
sharing ideas! Garlic is good for
our health!

9.  The olive was native
to Asia Minor and
spread from Iran,
Syria and Palestine to
the rest of the
Mediterranean basin
6,000 years ago

10.  Written evidence of herbal
remedies dates back over
5,000 years, to the
Sumerians, who created
lists of plants.
 Garlic has a 5000 year
history as an indispensable
part of ancient and
modern civilizations’
medicine, cooking,
religious traditions, and
folklore.
 Garlic has been cultivated
by humans for the last
5000 years

12.  Basil was used in
many ancient cultures
more than five
thousand years ago. It
was grown in the
Middle East, India and
the Mediterranean
region.

13.  Native to central Asia,
garlic is one of the
oldest cultivated
plants in the world
and has been grown
for over 5000 years.
Ancient Egyptians
seem to have been
the first to cultivate
this plant that played
an important role in
their culture.

14.  Carrots originated
some 5000 years ago
in Middle Asia around
Afghanistan, and
slowly spread into the
Mediterranean area.
The first carrots were
white, purple, red,
yellow, green and
black - not orange. Its
roots were thin and
turnip coloured

15.  By as early as 3000BC in
Crete, the olive was
widely cultivated and a
very prized commodity.
Very sophisticated ships
loaded with
earthenware amphorae
were built solely for the
olive oil trade. In fact,
Olive Oil trade may
have been the source of
wealth for this
advanced Minoan
civilization.

16.  For over 5,000 years garlic has
been used as food, medicine, an
aphrodisiac, money, and magic
potions. Garlic warded off the
evil eye, was hung over doors to
protect medieval occupants from
evil, gave strength and courage
to Greek athletes and warriors,
protected maidens and pregnant
ladies from evil nymphs, and was
rubbed on door frames to keep
out blood thirsty
vampires. Garlic clove pendants
hung around the neck protected
you from the sharp horns of a
bull, warded off local witches,
kept away the black plague, and
even prevented others from
passing you (or your horse) in a
race.

17.  Ancient records show
that the benefits of
Aloe Vera have been
known for centuries,
with its therapeutic
advantages and healing
properties surviving for
over 4000 year.
 There is evidence that
suggests garlic was
cultivated in China 4000
years ago.

18.  For the last 4000 years of
human history Garlic (Allium
sativum) has been both
cherished and reviled, both
sought for its healing powers
and shunned for its pungent
after effects.
 From miracle drug to vampire
repellent to offering for the
gods, this unassuming plant has
had an undeniably important
place in many aspects of
human history, and today
enjoys a renewed surge in
popularity as modern medicine
unearths the wonders of this
ancient superfood.

19.  Some also contend
that the cultivation of
the olive began
around 5000 B.C. on
Crete and the
neighboring Greek
Islands.

20.  Archaeologists have
discovered clayey
sculptures of garlic
bulbs dating from
3700 BC, while
illustrations with
garlic have been
found in another
crypt from 3200 BC

22.  were actively utilizing
the garlic healing
qualities, and there is a
belief that they brought
the garlic to China,
from where it was later
spread to Japan and
Korea. Garlic expansion
probably occurred in
the old world first, and
later in the new world.
Nonetheless, some
historians still claim
that garlic originates
from China

23.  The earliest record of
Aloe Vera is on a
Sumerian tablet
dating from 2100 BC.

24.  The first recorded herbal
study, called the Shennong
Bencaojing, was written
around 2,000 BC by the
Chinese Emperor Shen Nong
(The Divine Farmer). He is
known for a multitude of
innovations such as seed
preservation, dietary
revolution (he advocated a
vegetable-focused diet) and
tasted hundreds of herbs.
The document contains
descriptions and
information for 300 plants.

25.  The earliest reference
to opium growth and
use is in 3,400 B.C.
when the opium poppy
was cultivated in lower
Mesopotamia
(Southwest Asia). The
Sumerians referred to it
as Hul Gil, the "joy
plant."

26.  Garlic as part of the
daily diet,
particularly for the
working class involved
in heavy labour, as it
was presumed to
maintain and increase
strength and
productivity

27.  The oldest known list of medicinal
herbs is Shen Nung’s Pen
Ts’ao or Shennong Ben Cao Jing (c.
3000 B.C.), a Chinese herbal that is
probably a compilation of an even
older oral tradition.
 Burned cannabis seeds have also
been found in kurgan burial
mounds in Siberia dating back to
3,000 B.C., and some of the tombs
of noble people buried in Xinjiang
region of China and Siberia around
2500 B.C. have included large
quantities of mummified
psychoactive marijuana.
 Both hemp and psychoactive
marijuana were used widely in
ancient

28.  The Egyptian Imhotep
(2667 - 2648 BCE) is the
first physician in history
known by name. The
earliest known surgery
in Egypt was performed in
Egypt around 2750
BCE. The Kahun
Gynaecological
Papyrus treats women's
complaints, including
problems with conception.
Thirty four cases detailing
diagnosis and treatment
survive, some of them
fragmentarily

29.  The Chinese book on roots
and grasses “Pen T’Sao,”
written by Emperor Shen
Nung circa 2500 BC, treats
365 drugs (dried parts of
medicinal plants), many of
which are used even
nowadays such as the
following: Rhei rhisoma,
camphor, Theae folium,
Podophyllum, the great
yellow gentian, ginseng,
jimson weed, cinnamon
bark, and ephedra.

30.  Cannabis came to the South
Asian subcontinent between
2000 B.C. and 1000 B.C., when
the region was invaded by the
Aryans — a group that spoke an
archaic Indo-European
language. The drug became
widely used in India, where it
was celebrated as one of "five
kingdoms of herbs ... which
release us from anxiety" in one
of the ancient Sanskrit Vedic
poems whose name translate
into "Science of Charms.“
 Cannabis came to the Middle
East between 2000 B.C. and
1400 B.C., and it was probably
used there by the Scythians, a
nomadic Indo-European group.

31.  The Ancient Greeks also
valued garlic although
those who had eaten
garlic were forbidden
entry into the temples
(they were called ‘rank
roses’). During the
archeological
excavations in the
Knossos Palace on the
Greek island of Crete,
garlic bulbs were
discovered dating from
1850–1400 BC.

32.  Dating to 1800 BCE, it
is the oldest surviving
medical text of any
kind. Medical
institutions, referred
to as Houses of Life
are known to have
been established in
ancient Egypt as early
as the 1st Dynasty.

33.  The Myceanes used
cumin to season food
around 2000 BC. It
was used in Egypt
during the time of the
Pharaohs not only as a
food spice but also to
mummify the
deceased kings,
including King Tut
around 1323 BC

34.  Dating from 1600-
1700 BC, the Yale
Babylonian Tablet,
represent the earliest
known compilation of
culinary recipes. The
cornerstone of the
Mesopotamian diet
was the alliaceous
plants, onion, leek
and garlic.

35.  he Bible clearly states
that for 400 years,
(probably around 1730
to 1330 B.C.) while the
Israelites were slaves in
Egypt and no doubt
being forced to help
build some of the
pyramids, garlic as well
as some of the other
herbs in the same
family, was part of their
diet.

36.  The Ebers Papyrus,
written circa 1550 BC,
represents a collection of
800 proscriptions referring
to 700 plant species and
drugs used for therapy
such as pomegranate,
castor oil plant, aloe,
senna, garlic, onion, fig,
willow, coriander, juniper,
common centaury, etc.
 Pharaonic Egypt used
cumin as a medicine
around 1550 BC as the
Ebers Papyrus states.

37.  Saffron used
as medicine on the
Aegaean island
of Thera.
 The Ebers Papyrus, an
Egyptian medical
papyrus dated
sometime around 1500
B.C., mentions garlic 22
times as a remedy for a
variety of disease

38.  Well-preserved garlic
cloves were found in
the tomb of King
Tutankhamen who
ruled from 1334 BC to
1325 BC.

39.  The youngest pharaoh
Tutankhamen (1320
BC) was sent on his
trip to life beyond the
grave escorted by
garlic, as a patron of
his soul and protector
of his wealth.
Archaeologists have
discovered garlic
bulbs in the pyramids

40.  Babylonian medical
text, however, is
the Diagnostic
Handbook written by
the physician Esagil-
kin-apli of Borsippa,
during the reign of
the Babylonian king
Adad-apla-iddina
(1069- 1046 BCE).

41.  Babylonian "Diagnosti
c Handbook" is
written by the
physician Esagil-kin-
apli of Borsippa

42.  Soldiers were fed garlic to provide
them with more courage, and
garlic was part of the military’s
daily diet.
 During the first Olympic Games,
garlic was taken by athletes before
they competed presumably to
enhance performance.
 Garlic was used to protect the skin
against poisons or toxins.
 Hippocrates, the Father of
Medicine, used garlic as part of his
therapeutic armamentarium,
advocating its use for pulmonary
complaints, as a cleansing or
purgative agent, and for abdominal
growths.

43.  In Homer's epics The Iliad and The
Odysseys, created circa 800 BC, 63
plant species from the Minoan,
Mycenaean, and Egyptian Assyrian
pharmacotherapy were referred to.
Some of them were given the
names after mythological
characters from these epics; for
instance, Elecampane (Inula
helenium L. Asteraceae) was
named in honor of Elena, who was
the centre of the Trojan War. As
regards the plants from the
genus Artemisia, which were
believed to restore strength and
protect health, their name was
derived from the Greek
word artemis, meaning “healthy

44.  As far as Americans are
concerned, coffee is a
merely three hundred years
old. In other places and
cultures it has been a
widespread phenomena for
a much longer time. There
are records indicating the
use of coffee as early as
800 B. C.
 In fact, Homer speaks of a
bitter black beverage that
has powers of stimulation
and for all we know Homer
might have been speaking
of coffee.

45.  The first known Greek
medical school
opened in Cnidus in
700 BCE. Alcmaeon,
author of the first
anatomical work,
worked at this school,
and it was here that
the practice of
observing patients
was established

47.  According to
Theophrastus (370–
285 BC), the Greeks
offered gifts to their
Gods consisting of
garlic bulbs, which
they used to lay on
the main crossroads.
Orpheus referred to
garlic as a remedy.

48.  In the first millennium
BCE, there emerges in
post-Vedic India the
traditional medicine
system known as
Ayurveda, meaning the
"complete knowledge
for long life". Its two
most famous texts
belong to the schools of
Charaka, born c. 600
BCE, and Sushruta, born
600 BCE

49.  Herodotus (500 BC)
referred to castor oil
plant, Orpheus to the
fragrant hellebore and
garlic, and Pythagoras
to the sea onion (Scilla
maritima), mustard,
and cabbage. As a
digestive aid, Confucius
wrote as far back as 500
B.C. of never being
without ginger when he
ate

50.  It was around 500 BCE
that turmeric emerged
as an important part of
Ayurvedic medicine.
Ayurveda is an ancient
Indian system of natural
healing that is still
practiced today.
Ayurveda translates to
“science of life”–
ayur meaning “life”
and vedameaning
“science or knowledge.

51.  The works of Hippocrates (460–
370 BC) contain 300 medicinal
plants classified by
physiological action:
Wormwood and common
centaury (Centaurium
umbellatum Gilib) were
applied against fever; garlic
against intestine parasites;
opium, henbane, deadly
nightshade, and mandrake
were used as narcotics;
fragrant hellebore and
haselwort as emetics; sea
onion, celery, parsley,
asparagus, and garlic as
diuretics; oak and
pomegranate as adstringents

53.  Hippocrates practises and
teaches medicine in about
400 BC on the Greek island
of Kos. He will later be
regarded as the father of
medicine - partly because
he is unlike his more
theoretical contemporaries
in paying close attention to
the symptoms of disease,
but also because a century
or more after his death a
group of medical works is
gathered together under his
name.

54.  Theophrast (371-287
BC) founded botanical
science with his books
“De Causis
Plantarium”— Plant
Etiology and “De
Historia Plantarium”—
Plant History. In the
books, he generated a
classification of more
than 500 medicinal
plants known at the
time.

55.  According to
Theophrastus (370–
285 BC), the Greeks
offered gifts to their
Gods consisting of
garlic bulbs, which
they used to lay on
the main crossroads.
Orpheus referred to
garlic as a remedy.

56.  Herophilus of
Chalcedon (325 - 280
BCE), working at the
medical school
of Alexandria placed
intelligence in the
brain, and connected
the nervous system to
motion and sensation

57.  The Romans
 adopt the Greek god
of medicine Asclepiu
s by stealing his
sacred snake
from Epidaurus and
setting up
a temple on the Tiber
Island.

58.  The Greek physician
Galen (129 - 217 CE)
was also one of the
greatest surgeons of
the ancient world and
performed many
audacious operations,
including brain and
eye surgeries.

59.  From its origin to the
present, ginger is the
world’s most widely
cultivated
herb. Testimonials of
both the medicinal and
economic importance of
ginger have been
recorded as far back as
five thousand-year-old
Greek literature to 200
B.C.

60.  Garlic was probably
introduced into Japan
from Korea along with
Buddhism in about 30
B.C

61.  In his work “De re
medica” the renowned
medical writer Celsus
(25 BC–50 AD) quoted
approximately 250
medicinal plants such as
aloe, henbane, flax,
poppy, pepper,
cinnamon, the star
gentian, cardamom,
false hellebore, etc.

62.  China has detailed
records of successive
Imperial reigns
starting from the Xia
dynasty (approx. 21st
c B.C. to 16th c BC)

63.  During the Shang
dynasty,which
succeeded the Xia,
(16th c BC to 11th c
BC)16-11

64.  The chief physician of
Nero’s army recommended
garlic to “clean the
arteries” i.e. use garlic to
improve cardiovascular
status (The circulation of
blood was not discovered
until hundred years later).
 Garlic was also
recommended for
gastrointestinal tract
disorder, treatment of
animal bites and for
alleviation of joint disease
and seizure

65.  Pliny the Elder (23 AD-79), a
contemporary of Dioscorides,
who travelled throughout
Germany and Spain, wrote
about approximately 1000
medicinal plants in his book
“Historia naturalis.” Pliny's and
Dioscorides’ works
incorporated all knowledge of
medicinal plants at the time.
 Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD), a
Roman physician and scientist
from the first century,
considered garlic a universal
remedy

66.  In 65 A.D.,
Dioscorides, a Greek,
wrote his Materia
Medica (13.152.6
 ). This was a practical
text dealing with the
medicinal use of more
than 600 plants

67.  Circa 77 AD he wrote the
work “De Materia
Medica.” This classical
work of ancient history,
translated many times,
offers plenty of data on
the medicinal plants
constituting the
basic materia medica until
the late Middle Ages and
the Renaissance
 In the famous De Materia
Medica 77 A.D.
Dioscorides recorded that
ginger “warms and softens
the stomac

68.  The famous physician
from the end of the
Eastern Han period,
Hua Tuo (b110 AD
d208 AD, approx.) was
a master of each
aspect of internal and
external medicine. In
particular, his surgical
skills reached a very
high level

69.  The earliest known
reference to the
Doctrine of Signatures is
in the writings of Galen
(131-200 AD). He was a
physician, writer,
surgeon and philosopher
who became the most
famous doctor in the
Roman Empire and
whose theories
dominated European
medicine for 1,500
years

70.  There was a medical
scientist in the Eastern Han
period named Zhang
Zhongjing (b150 A.D. d219
AD) who wrote a sixteen
volume work entitled
Discussion of Cold Induced
Disorders. In the areas of
epidemic, external heat
disorders, jaundice,
gynecology, and others, this
text set down a complete
set of treatment principals.
Zhang Zhongjing’s theory
and prescriptions are still of
great practical value today.

71.  The Tang dynasty medical scientist,
Sun Simiao (b540 AD d682 AD), was
from ShaanXi province, Yao county.
He was a child prodigy, and at 15
he not only had a thorough
understanding of Daoism and the
classics of many of its sects, but
had also deeply researched
Buddhist classics. Sun Simiao not
only earnestly studied the ancient
classics of Chinese medicine, he
also diligently gathered experience
from folk medicine. Gathering
knowledge from so many sources,
he was able to understand,
systematize and summarize the
theory and methods of those who
came before him, thereby bringing
new content to Chinese medicine.

72.  The first hospital was
founded by Caliph Al-
Walid I an Ummayad
Caliph (705-715 AD) in
Jundishapur, a Persian
city in the province of
Ahwaz, according to
Nagamia.

73.  Charles the Great (742 AD–
814), the founder of the
reputed medical school in
Salerno, in his
“Capitularies” ordered
which medicinal plants
were to be grown on the
state-owned lands. Around
100 different plants were
quoted, which have been
used till present days such
as sage, sea onion, iris,
mint, common centaury,
poppy, marsh mallow, et

74.  After 750 the Muslim Arab
world had the ancient
works on medicine
translated into Arabic, and
Islamic physicians engaged
in some significant medical
research. Notable Islamic
medical pioneers include
the polymath, Avicenna,
who, along with Imhotep
and Hippocrates, has also
been called the "father of
medicine". He wrote The
Canon of Medicine,
considered one of the most
famous books in the history
of medicine.

75.  The first true Islamic
hospital was built
during the reign of
Caliph Harun-ul-Rashid
(786-809 AD) in
Baghdad. A well-known
physician, Jibrail
Bakhtishu, was invited
to head the new
bimartistan. It achieved
fame and other
hospitals were built in
Baghdad.

76.  Yuhanna Ibn Masawyh (777 -
857) was regarded as
amongst the great
translators of work from
Greek into Arabic, but he
also acted as a physician to
the Caliphs and served at a
hospital. He is believed to
have written the works
'Disorders of the Eye' and
'Knowledge of the Oculist
Examinations' as well as
Kita al Mushajjar al-Kabir, a
short work including
descriptions, diagnosis,
symptoms and treatments
of disease

77.  Al Hakm (Died 840)
wrote the earliest
known book in the
medical sciences in the
Islamic world and it
drew heavily upon
Greek sources,
including information
about physiology,
surgery and general
healthcare, amongst
other sections.

78.  Al-Kindi (800-870),
another of the great
Islamic polymaths, further
contributed to the history
of medicine. This scholar
was heavily influenced by
the work of Galen, and
also made unique
contributions of his own to
the field. In his
Aqrabadhin (Medical
Formulary), he described
many preparations drawn
from plant, animal and
mineral sources

79.  Hunayan ibn Nishaq (808-873),
known as Johannitus in the
West, was one of the titans of
Islamic medicine and was a
prominent author of medical
texts, covering a variety of
disciplines. As well as
extensive translation work, he
wrote a book called 'The Book
of Introduction to Medicine,'
which drew heavily upon Galen
but also included many unique
and novel additions. His work
was probably the first Islamic
medical text translated into
Latin.

80.  Al Tabari, (810 - 855) wrote a book
known as 'The Paradise of Wisdom,'
in 850, which was based largely
upon the earlier works of Galen
and Hippocrates, but it also
included an appendix with
translations from Indian sources.
Like many physicians of the time,
his work involved providing better
and more detailed encyclopedias,
containing the medical knowledge
available at that time. Sadly, it is
believed that most of his works are
lost and are only referred to as
quoted in later texts.

81.  Al-Razi, known to the
Europeans as Rhazes
(may be spelt Rhases,
Rasis, Rasi or ar-Razi)
(850 - 923), was at the
forefront of Islamic
research into medicine.
A prolific writer, he
produced over 200
books about medicine
and philosophy,

82.  Throughout the
Middle Ages European
physicians consulted
the Arab works “De
Re Medica” by John
Mesue (850 AD),

83.  During the Song and
Yuan periods (960 AD
to 1368 AD), due to
the invention of
printing technology
and further advances
in paper making,
large quantities of
Chinese medical texts
were printed and
published.

84.  "Not only is every
sensation attended by a
corresponding change
localized in the sense-
organ, which demands a
certain time, but also,
between the stimulation
of the organ and
consciousness of the
perception an interval of
time must elapse,
corresponding to the
transmission of stimulus
for some distance along
the nerve.

85.  The Muslim scholar who
composed a treatise on the
early origins of Indian and
Chinese drugs, mentions
that the black seed is a
kind of grain
called alwanak in the sigzi
dialect. Later, this was
confirmed by Suhar Bakht
who explained it to habbii-
l-sajzi (viz. Sigzi grains).
This reference to black
seed as "grains" points to
the seed's possible
nutritional use during the
tenth and eleventh centurie

86.  Ibn al-Haytham was the
first scientist to argue
that vision occurs in the
brain rather than the
eyes in his Book of
Optics (Edition III).
Moreover, he pointed
out that personal
experience has an
effect on what people
see and how they see
and that vision and
perception are
subjective feelings

87.  Iranian physician Ibn Sina, also
known as Avicenna (980-1037
A.D.), combined the herbal
traditions of Dioscorides and
Galen with the ancient
practices of his own people
in The Canon of Medicine (al-
Qanun fi at-tibb). One of the
most influential medical texts
ever written,
Avicenna’s Canon spread
through Europe during the
eleventh and twelfth
centuries.“Canon Medicinae”
by Avicenna (980-1037), and
“Liber Magnae Collectionis

88.  In the year 1000 A.D.,
coffee was mostly used for
medicinal purposes. It has
been reported than in 1400
a Yemeni goat herder saw
his flock eating some
reddish berries and
consequently becoming
excited and restless. When
this goat herder told a
monk about this they
gathered the berries
together and boiled them in
water. They found that the
resulting beverage could
get rid of sleep and
weariness.

89.  was a physician and
Islamic scholar and
philosopher in
Moorish Spain. He
wrote a five volume
treatise on medicine
called Al-
Culliyat (The
Fundamentals),
or Colliget.

90.  One of the most
important medical
books of its time was
written by the physician
Ali al-Husayn Abd Allah
Ibn Sina (also known as
Avicenna). His massive
manuscript, called
the Laws of Medicine,
was completed around
1030 AD and translated
into Latin in the 12th
Century

91.  Born in Cordoba in 1126 and at
one time a student of Ibn Zuhr,
Abu ‘l-Walid Muhammad ibn
Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn
Rushd was in many respects to
the western caliphate what Ibn
Sina was to the eastern one.
Known in Europe as Averroes,
he became known mainly for
his works on philosophy. Ibn
Rushd’s principal medical
work, a slender volume called
Kitab al-Kulliyat fi al-Tibb
(General Rules of Medicine)
became an important prcis of
medicine

92.  Simplicum
Alimentorum Et
Medicamentorum” by
Ibn Baitar (1197-
1248), in which over
1000 medicinal plants
were described

93.  Ibn Al-Nafis (born 1213)
goes down in the history of
medicine as the first
scholar to understand the
respire-circulatory system,
although his knowledge was
incomplete. He understood
that the heart was divided
into two halves and stated
that there were no pores
connecting the two halves
of the heart, as proposed
by Galen. Al-Nafis stated
that the blood could only
travel from one side of the
heart to the other by
passing through the lungs

94. 
One of the largest
hospitals ever built was
the Mansuri Hospital in
Cairo, completed in
1248 AD under the rule
of the Mameluke ruler
of Egypt, Mansur Qalaun


95.  Marco Polo's journeys
(1254-1324) in
tropical Asia, China,
and Persia, the
discovery of America
(1492)

96.  The Ming and Qing
dynasties (1368 AD to 1911
AD) marked the later
period of feudalism. Many
“Confucian Physicians”
emerged, learning outside
of the government system,
usually with family elders
or as apprentices of
famous doctors. Every
part of Chinese medicine
was enriched, the amount
of materia medica
increased and there were
many new achievements.

97.  Vasco De Gama's
journeys to India
(1498), resulted in
many medicinal plants
being brought into
Europe. Botanical
gardens emerged all
over Europe, and
attempts were made for
cultivation of domestic
medicinal plants and of
the ones imported from
the old and the new
world.

98.  Paracelsus (1493-1541) was
one of the proponents of
chemically prepared drugs
out of raw plants and
mineral substances;
nonetheless, he was a firm
believer that the collection
of those substances ought
to be astrologically
determined. He
continuously emphasized
his belief in observation,
and simultaneously
supported the “Signatura
doctrinae”—the signature
doctrine.

99.  Turner (1508 – 1568),
who was known as the
Father of British
Botany, believed mint
was good for ‘ye
stomack’ and is
pleasant in sauces.

100.  At Basel, in Switzerland,
Vesalius publishes in 1543
his great work -De humani
corporis fabrica(The
Structure of the Human
Body). There are seven
volumes including numerous
magnificentwoodcut
illustrations. The book is an
immediate success, though
naturally it enrages the
traditionalists who
followGalen. Galen's
theories have, after all, the
clear merit of seniority.
They are by now some 1400
years old.

101.  Garlic was brought
into Great Britain in
1548, from the coasts
of the Mediterranean
Sea, where it was
present in abundance

102.  Lonicerus (in 1564)
recommended garlic
against helminthes,
and externally for
curing a range of skin
diseases and dandruff

103. 
The great pharmacologist
of the Ming dynasty, Li
Shizhen, (b1518 AD d1593
AD) spent thirty years
consulting some 800 texts
and personally harvesting
herbs for use in treatment
to write the great classic,
Materia Medica ,
containing 52 articles. The
text contains 1,900,000
Chinese characters and
records 1,892 medical
materials from plants,
animals, and minerals

104.  While Paracelsus and
Culpeper promoted
the doctrine of
signatures and
astrological
herbalism, medical
practice was
changing. Men
like Francis
Bacon (1561-1626)

105.  William Harvey (1578-1657) were
transforming science from a
speculative to an experimental
process. This new emphasis did not
mix well with the revival of the
doctrine of signatures and
astrology: thus, biological and
medical science began to separate
from traditional herbalism.
Herbalists who focused on
classification and refused to
acknowledge signatures and stars
formed the science of botany.
Physicians who found Harvey’s
circulation of the blood more
useful than Culpeper’s movements
of the planets started what might
be called scientific medicine

106.  James I's
Counterblaste to
Tobacco in 1604
strikes a telling note:
"Smoking is a custom
loathsome to the eye,
hateful to the nose,
harmful to the brain,
(and) dangerous to
the lungs."

107.  A century later,
Englishman Nicholas
Culpeper (1616-1654)
revitalized another ancient
facet of herbalism: astrology.
Astrological herbalists
connected herbs to different
signs of the zodiac. They
treated specific ailments by
determining what sign and
planet ruled over the part of
the body that needed care and
then prescribing an herb of the
same astrological sign.
According to Culpeper, “he
that would know the reason of
the operation of the Herbs,
must look up as high as the
stars.”

108.  in 1720 a thousand
inhabitants of
Marseille were saved
from garlic the
spread of the
epidemic of plague

109.  Most of us are familiar
with turmeric as a
cooking spice. It
appeared in Hannah
Glasse’s 1747
cookbook, The Art of
Cookery Made Plain and
Easy. Hannah shares a
recipe for India pickle
made with turmeric; a
later edition calls for
turmeric in a recipe for
Indian curry.

110.  In 18th century, in his work Species
Planetarium (1753), Linnaeus (1707-
1788) provided a brief description and
classification of the species described
until then. The species were described
and named without taking into
consideration whether some of them had
previously been described somewhere.
For the naming, a polynomial system was
employed where the first word denoted
the genus while the remaining
polynomial phrase explained other
features of the plant (e.g. the willow
Clusius was named Salix pumila
angustifolia antera). Linnaeus altered
the naming system into a binominal one.
The name of each species consisted of
the genus name, with an initial capital
letter, and the species name, with an
initial small lette

111.  William In hisAccount of
the Foxglove(1785)
Withering gives clinical
details of how to
prescribe extract of
foxglove, or digitalis, in
the treatment of dropsy
and hints that it may be
of use for heart disease
(for which it remains an
important drug to this
day)

112.  Opium Wars of the
mid-1800s.
Subsequent Chinese
immigration to work
on the railroads and
the gold rush brought
opium smoking to
America.

113.  In 1803, morphine,
the principal
ingredient in opium,
was extracted from
opium resin. Morphine
is ten times more
powerful than
processed opium,
quantity for quantity.

114.  This antique opium
pipe set, 1821,
highlights the
exquisite details that
could be afforded by
rich Chinese opium
smokers

115.  Endive
 The endive was accidentally
discovered by a Belgian
farmer around 1830. At the
time, chicory roots were
used as a coffee substitute.
The farmer stored them in
a cellar, forgot about them
and, when he came back to
pick up the roots,
discovered that they had
sprouted white leaves.
Curious, he ate some and
found them to be tender,
moist, crunchy and slightly
bitter

116.  Peter James Begbie,
on observing
indigenous medicine,
wrote in 1834 of “the
probability of this
race yet revealing to
us many medicinal
shrubs which will
prove highly valuable
in compounds.”8

117.  From the beginning of the
Opium War in 1840, China
was continually defeated
by outside forces. China
lost land in war
reparations and its
autonomy in many cities.
There were some Chinese
people who, as a result of
the national crisis,
developed a cultural
inferiority complex and
produced a tide of
complete opposition to
their own culture

118.  In 1858, Louis Pasteur
wrote that garlic
killed bacteria. As he
maintained, it was
effective even against
some bacteria
resistant to other
factors. He also noted
that garlic
killed Helicobacter
pylori

119.  Cocaine was first
isolated (extracted
from coca leaves) in
1859 by German
chemist Albert
Niemann

120.  was an Unani physician,
and also an Indian
patriot and freedom
fighter in the struggle
for independence. He
was also a great
advocate and champion
of the indigenous
systems of Ayurvedic
and Unani Medicine,
and pioneered scientific
research into their
treatments.

121.  First synthesized from
morphine in 1874, the
Bayer Company of
Germany introduced
heroin for medical
use in 1898.

123.  Austrian psychoanalyst
Sigmund Freud, who used the
drug himself, was the first to
broadly promote cocaine as a
tonic to cure depression and
sexual impotence.
 In 1884, he published an article
entitled “Über Coca” (About
Coke) which promoted the
“benefits” of cocaine, calling
it a “magical” substance.
 Freud, however, was not an
objective observer. He used
cocaine regularly, prescribed it
to his girlfriend and his best
friend and recommended it for
general use.

124.  In 1886, the popularity
of the drug got a
further boost when
John Pemberton
included coca leaves as
an ingredient in his new
soft drink, Coca-Cola.
The euphoric and
energizing effects on
the consumer helped to
skyrocket the popularity
of Coca-Cola by the
turn of the century

125.  In the early 1900s,
innovations in chemical
analysis allowed scientists
to extract and modify
active ingredients from
plants. In America, clashes
within the medical
community and a growing
infatuation with isolated
chemicals led to the
decline of herbal
remedies. However, even
today 40% of all
pharmaceutical drugs are
based on botanicals.

126.  In 1912, the United
States government
reported 5,000 cocaine-
related deaths in one
year and by 1922, the
drug was officially
banned.
 The mint history in the
United States continued
when in 1912 the mint
Lifesaver was
introduced.

127.  As late as in 1944, the
oily, colorless,
unstable substance
called allicin was
isolated from garlic
by Cavallito and
Bailey. Later it was
established that
allicin has strong
bactericide power

128.  Muhammad Saeed was
born in Delhi. He
migrated to Pakistan
when India was
partitioned in 1947.

129.  Nescafe was first
introduced into
Switzerland and by
1956 coffee was
everywhere

130.  In the 1960s, National
Cancer Institute
researchers began
examining an extract
from the yew’s inner
bark, thinking it held
potential as a cancer
treatment

131.  1966 to 1976,
traditional doctors were
purged from the
schools, hospitals and
clinics, and many of the
old practitioners were
jailed or killed. In 1976,
under the auspices of
Lu Binkui, the man who
established the first
hospital and university
in Nanjing

134.  By the late 1970s, they isolated
Taxol from the yew extract. Taxol
stops the division of cells, including
cancerous ones. In 1989, the
results of a trial of Taxol taken by
women with ovarian cancer showed
that 30 percent of the patients
improved, and the Food and Drug
Administration approved Taxol’s
use as a drug in 1993.
 In the 1970s, cocaine emerged as
the fashionable new drug for
entertainers and businesspeople.
Cocaine seemed to be the perfect
companion for a trip into the fast
lane. It “provided energy” and
helped people stay “up.”

135.  In 1979, the National
Association for Chinese
Medicine was established,
and many of the traditional
texts underwent editing
and were republished. In
these last few decades,
while Chinese medicine has
existed in a fragile state,
hope has also sprouted as
interest in it grows both in
China and abroad.Chinese
medicine has undergone
nearly 100 years of
rejection and attack, yet it
wasn’t eradicated.

136.  In 1989, Pat Reppert of
Shale Hill Farm and Herb
Gardens organized the
first Garlic Festival held
in the Hudson Valley –
and perhaps on the East
Coast

137.  In 1992, the Kiwanis
Club of Saugerties
held their first Garlic
Festival at Cantine
Field in Saugerties,
New York