Bush Medicine

A Pharmacopoeia of Natural Remedies

by Tim Low

Angus & Robertson, 1991, ISBN 0207164622, colour photographs throughout, photographic endpapers, photographic title page, hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, minor rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, no inscriptions, dustjacket shows a little edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners (see photographs)

“Through the diaries and journals of explorers, pioneers and early naturalists, the memories of those who still practise bush remedies, and his own vast knowledge of the bush, Tim Low has brought together a fascinating picture of an evolving bush medicine.  Wild herbs, steam baths, clay pills, goannas, ants and cockroaches, to name a few, have been used to cure all manner of ailments.
Early colonists were quick to confirm the value of Aboriginal healing and to exploit the medicinal potential of the surrounding flora and fauna.  ‘Wonder cures’ for anything from baldness to rheumatism were promoted by enterprising colonists.  Some treatments, such as eucalyptus and goanna oil, used for a range of complaints are still popular; others, such as applying leeches to ease the swelling of a black eye, have not been adopted so enthusiastically.
Bush Medicine looks at the plants and animals used in bush remedies and also considers their conservation and commercial prospects.  It is both a useful and enlightening account of the medicinal resources of the Australian bush – the full potential of which is still to be discovered.”