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striven to rid the human race of the superstitions that encompass 
the whole art and practice of medicine. Even now these super- 
stitions have not been wholly eliminated. Does not your friend 
“touch wood” when he says he has “not had a cold for months’ ? 
Much of the advertising of nostrums depends for its success, if not 
on superstition, at least on credulity. 
In the 16th century the old “Doctrine of Signatures” which is 
said to be of very ancient Chinese ae still flourished, being 
brought into prominence by Paracelsus (1493-1541). The idea 
was based on the belief that the Creator, or some supernatural 
power, seeks to show to mankind, by the resemblance of a plant or 
a plant part to an organ of the human body, that that plant or plant 
part is intended to be used as a remedy 
= 
ra disease of the organ 
it resembles. Thus, a pomegranate ae when opened up, has 
seeds which might be said to resemble loose teeth. Hence it 
should be used for dental troubles. The hepatica or liverleaf, hav- 
ing a leaf said to resemble a human liver, should be pe in some 
way,—infusion, tincture, ete—for hepatic diseases. The doctrine 
was extended to include plants that resembled ce animals. 
Thus, a plant with a spotted stem or leaf like that of a poisonous 
snake would be a good antidote for a bite of that snake. Minerals 
were also included—thus, mercuric sulfide or cinnebar, of a blood 
red color, would be excellent for troubles of the blood. 
The superstitions associated with the mandrake are reminiscent 
of the ancient “Rhizotomoi,” and remind one of the doctrine of 
signatures. The European mandrake is Mandragora officinarum, 
an herb of the potato family, and indigenous in southern Europe 
and northern Africa. It has a long, thick, sometimes forked root 
and was supposed, when uprooted, to resemble, altogether, the 
human form—in fact there were said to be male and female plants. 
The root was accredited with great healing powers anc 
jar 
a very spe- 
cial manner of digging it up was advised, somewhat as follows: * 
the digging must be done at night when the plant “shines like a 
lamp.” Then, as soon as one sees it, he must strike it on the head 
with an iron lest it escape; then dig around it with an ivory imple- 
ment, without touching it. Pulling it from the ground was fraught 
* Arber, Agnes. Herbals, their origin and evolution. pp. 36, 37. Cam- 
bridge, England. 12 
