The following quote is from the front cover:  "Andrew Chevallier, FNIMH, is an experienced medical herbalist and Senior Lecturer in Herbal Medicine at Middlesex University.  He runs a busy private practice in London and is involved in clinical and laboratory research in herbal medicine.  He is a past president of the National Institute of Medicinal Herbalists, and author of several books on herbal medicine, including Hypericum: The Natural Antidepressant and More and Flaxseed."

 With regards to the topic of "Australia", it states the following: "Regrettably, much of the herbal knowledge of the Australian Aborigines was lost after the arrival of the Europeans."...."The cradle of the oldest continuous culture on Earth, Australia is also the home of an ancient herbal tradition.  The Aborigines, believed to have settled in Australia over 60,000 years ago, developed a sophisticated understanding of indigenous plants, many of which, such as eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus, p. 98), are unique to Australia."

  With regards to the topic of "Aboriginal Herbal Medicine", it states the following:  "The Aborigines probably had a more robust health than the early European settlers who displaced them."...."The influx of Europeans in the 18th century was disastrous for the Aborigines.  They were exploited and driven off their land, and their population was decimated by killings and infections Western diseases.  Not only did the Europeans fail to discern any value in native customs but much of the orally based herbal tradition was lost through death of the elders and the dispersal of tribal groupings."..."Nevertheless, a little is known of Aboriginal medicine.  Aromatic herbs, such as eucalyptus, were crushed and inhaled to treat many common illnesses, including respiratory diseases such as flu.  Without metal technology, water could not be boiled, but decoctions were made by heating water with hot stones."

  Under the topic of "Research", it states the following: "....Extensive research into eucalyptus essential oil during the last 50 years has shown it to have a marked antiseptic action and the ability to dilate the bronchioles (small airways) of the lungs.  The action of the essential oil as a whole is stronger than that of its main constituent, cineole." 

Under the topic of "Traditional & Current Uses", it states the following: "Eucalyptus is a traditional Aboriginal remedy for infections and fevers.  It is now used throughout the world for these ailments."...."Eucalyptus is a strong expectorant, suitable for chest infections, including bronchitis and pneumonia."

Under the topic of "Plant Medicines", it states the following:  "The variety and sheer number of plants with therapeutic properties are quite astonishing.  Some 70,000 plant species, from lichens to towering trees, have been used at one time or another for medicinal purposes.  Today, Western herbal medicine still makes use of hundreds of native European plants, as well as many hundreds of species from other continents.  In Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) about 2,000 plant species are considered to have medicinal value, while the Chinese Pharmacopoeia lists over 5,700 traditional medicines, mostly of plant origin."...."About 500 herbs are still employed within conventional medicine, although whole plants are rarely used.  In general, the herbs provide the starting material for the isolation or synthesis of conventional drugs.  Digoxin, for example, which is used for heart failure, was isolated from common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea, p. 201), and the contraceptive pill was synthesized from constituents found in wild yam (Dioscorea villosa, p. 93)."

Under the topic of "Potent Plant Chemicals", it states the following:  "Today, biomedicine still relies on plants rather than the laboratory for at least 25% of its medicines, and many of these are among the most effective of all conventional drugs.  It is hard to think of a world deprived of the antimalarial properties of quinine (derived from Cinchona spp., p. 83); or the heart remedy digoxin (from Digitalis spp., pp. 201); or the cough-reliving properties of ephedrine (from Ephedra sinica, p. 97), which is present in many prescription and over-the-counter cold remedies.  These are many other conventional medicines are all derived from isolated plant constituents."

Under the topic of "Value of Whole Plants", it states the following:  "Although it is important to understand the actions of individual active constituents, herbal medicine, unlike bio-medicine, is ultimately about the use and actions of whole plants..."...."In the same way that taking a watch to bits and identifying its key parts will not show you how it works as a whole, dividing up a medicinal herb into its constituent parts cannot explain exactly how it works in its natural form.  The whole herb is worth more than the sum of its parts, and scientific research is increasingly showing that the active constituents of many herbs, for example those in ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba, p. 102), interact in complex ways to produce the therapeutic effect of the remedy as whole." 

Under the topic of "Plants as Foods & Medicines", it states the following:  "In general, the human body is much better suited to treatment with herbal remedies than with isolated chemical medicines.  We have evolved side-by-side with plants over hundreds of thousands of years, and our digestive system and physiology as a whole are geared to digesting and utilizing plant-based foods, which often have a medicinal value as well as providing sustenance."    

  Under the topic of "Science and Medicine", and with regards to medical research, it states the following:  "This eventually led to the discovery, or more accurately, the rediscovery of penicillin by a number of medical researchers, most notably Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) in 1929.  However, while 20th-century scientists were first to scientifically evaluate antibiotics as medicines, they were not the first to employ them for healing purposes.  Antibiotic molds had been grown and used to combat infection in ancient Egypt, 14th-century Peru, and in recent European folk medicine."

Under the topic of "Ascendancy of Biomedicine", it states the following:  "Increasingly, the practice of herbal medicine was outlawed in North American and most of Europe, and the wealthy in developing countries abandoned herbal medicine in favor of the new treatments available."...."This was in no small part due to the medical profession itself, which saw herbal medicine as a throwback to the superstitions of the past.  From the late 19th century on, the aim of organizations such as the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association ha been to monopolize conventional medical practice.  Herbal medicine thus neared extinction in many countries, especially in the US and Britain.  In Britain, for example, from 1941 until 1968 it was illegal to practical herbal medicine without medical qualifications." 

Under the topic of "The Tide Turns", it states the following:  "Although there were spectacular successes with modern chemical medicines, there were also horrific disasters, most notably the thalidomide tragedy in 1962 in Britain and Germany; when 3,000 deformed babies were born to mothers who had taken the drug for morning sickness during pregnancy.  This event marked a turning point in the public's opinion of chemical medicines.  People began to realize that a serious cost could accompany the benefits of modern drug treatment."

Under the topic of "The Chinese Example", it states the following:  "Contrary to the trend in conventional Western medicine that makes the patient ever more dependent upon the doctor and high-tech machinery, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), like other forms of complementary medicine, stresses the patient's personal responsibility for his or her own cure, encouraging a holistic approach to treatment.

Under the topic of "Changing Attitudes", it states the following:  "Perhaps the most important factor behind growing interest in complementary medicine is the poor state of health in Western societies.  Conventional medicine has by and large brought serious infectious diseases under control, although there are worrying signs that infectious organisms are becoming resistant to antibiotic treatment largely as a result of their indiscriminate use.  Chronic illness, however, seems to be on the increase.  Probably around 50 percent of people is Western countries daily take one or more conventional medicines - for conditions as diverse as high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, and depression.  Many Western countries such as the US and France spend vast sums on health care, yet despite this massive investment much of the population remains demonstrably unhealthy."..."Over the years, changes in public awareness have led to a renewed interest in herbal medicine." 

Under the topic of "Medicinal Herbs & Big Business", it states the following:  "The major pharmaceutical companies have realized that rainforests, grasslands, and even hedgerows and fields are sources of potentially invaluable medicines.  As a result, the industry has invested vast resources into screening the active constituents of medicinal plants from all over the world.  The drug taxol, first extracted from the Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), and one of the most effective treatments for breast cancer, was developed in this way."..."In this search through the plant world it is likely that other remarkable medicines will be found, though far fewer new drugs have been successfully developed via this research that was originally anticipated.  In fact, there is a key problem to this approach, for it is geared to the production of isolated plant chemicals, which can then be synthesized and patented.  With a patent, a company can make a profit, recouping the massive investment required to research and develop the new medicines."...."Even if the major pharmaceutical companies were able to find an herb such as St. John's Wort, which proved to be more effective and safer than conventional medicines, they would prefer to develop synthetic chemical drugs rather than plant medicines." 

Reference:  Andrew Chevallier, FNIMH, in the book entitled "Natural Health Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, the Definitive Reference to 550 Herbs and Remedies for Common Ailments", Dorling Kindersley Limited, London, Great Britain, Second Edition, 2000; the first excerpt is from the cover of the book; the next two excerpts are from page 46; the next two excerpts are from page 98; the next excerpt is from page 6; the next three excerpts are from page 11; the next five excerpts are from pages 28-30; and the final excerpt is from page 31.