|
|
Article: There's a pharmacy in the woods ... and in the rainforest.(natural medicines; homesteaders & Health)
- Article from:
- Countryside & Small Stock Journal
- Article date:
- January 1, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Countryside Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
To the Indians and early settlers, the woods were Nature's drugstore. Hardly a plant or tree grows that did not have some real or imaginary medical purpose.
Without access to apothecaries, these people had to go no further than the nearest pine or oak for the making of some home remedies. Longleaf and 1oblolly pines, for example, supplied turpentine oil for several kinds of internal disorders, to relieve toothache and even to eliminate tapeworms. Vapor from the tar was inhaled for pulmonary disorders, and gummy resin was an ointment for skin diseases.
Bark from the live oakland from white and black oaks, too--was used to make a tea for sore eyes, burns and ...