Elixers Of Life

The desire to prolong life and improve its quality is as old as life itself, and many non-western cultures -- paricularly native Americans and the peoples of Asia and India -- have never lost their knowledge of and belief in the efficacy of herbs in achieving this aim. Many herbs are believed to rejuvenate the body and repair tissue waste; others are thought to provide essential nutritive supplements, to have aphrodesiac properties or to have a tonic effect which aids digestion. In this definitive volume, long out of print, Hilda Leyel explores the global history and use of 171 revitalizing herbs and vegetables -- from Agar-Agar to Yellow Wort -- grouped into three categories: nutritious herbs, bitter herbs, and tonic herbs. The book provides such information as botanical name, common name, names given to the plant in different cultures and times, natural habitat, part used, method of use, symbolism, specific action of the plant, and lore and history. The unique feature of the work is the inclusion of oriental herb lore and herbal wisdom from ancient sources, including Rome and Egypt. Food and medicine being identical in herbal wisdom, the recommendations for making herbal infusions are given, along with some simple recipes. Full of scholarly detail yet written for the layman, this work is both practical and inspirational, the best of its kind ever written, and includes thirteen specialist indexes. It should be read as a companion volume to The Craft of the Herbalist by E. A. Wallis Budge, to whom it is dedicated.

Hilda Leyel is a Fellow of the Royal Institute and an officier of l'Academie Francaise.