Tyler: criticism.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Tyler, was: Re: Toxicity in Herbs
From: HeK.hetta.pp.fi (Henriette Kress)
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 20:43:31 GMT

>>How do I go about finding out what herbs are good for you or how they should be taken? Or if a combination of herbs can be taken?
>The Honest Herbal by Varro Tyler (I tend to think that Tyler is a little over anxious, but if there is any potential side-effect, he'll list it).

Tyler writes things like 'Unfortunately, ginseng remains a medical enigma with no proven efficacy for humans.' ... NOT one of the reliable books.

Also, one of the arguments for Tyler used to be 'he gives references for every sentence in his book'.
Right. So he's never thought a single thought on his own, never used a single plant, never made a single remedy, never observed a single action with his own senses?

If he does quote everything in his book (he does, I've a copy, just so I can trash it every now and then on newsgroups and mailing lists), that means it's just a collection of literature studies, dependent on the quality of its sources, AND on the mindframe of the researcher.

And THAT is touted by the HerbalGram, by the American Botanical Council, by the Herb Research Foundation as the fountain of all scientific herbal knowledge today?

Give me a break.

The best book about herbal medicine and medicinal herbs on the market right now is still

Michael Moore: Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West

and, if you're into deeper studies:

Felter / Lloyd: King's American Dispensatory.

And, as Rosemary said, there's a nice selection of -good- herbal books in the medicinal herbfaq.

Henriette