HERB - Culpepper's accuracy

[Jenne Heise]

> However, Culpepper was widely considered a maverick in his own time, and
> did not always adhere to traditional herbal teachings.  For this reason,
> I would not rely heavily on Culpepper to document herbal usage to period
> or nearly.  He claimed his departure was in the interest of helping
> people save money by using local herbs instead of foreign ones, but this
> does not account for all of his points of departure...  

Note that _The English Physician_ (which is the original from which the
'Culpeper's Herbals' were taken) purported to be a revelation of some of
the secret recipes of the English College of Physicians. Another of the
reasons that Culpeper was considered a maverick is that he was a decided
Roundhead and used his works to that end; also, astrology was beginning to
fall out of favor when Culpeper was writing. 

Culpeper is a funny old bird, certainly a bit of a quack in his own time.
He attended college, but did not graduate; he studied pharmacy but did not
ever become admitted to the guild. His is the most comprehensive book on
the astrological treatment theory, but by no means the only one that was
published, either before or after his time.

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.
   "My hands are small I know, but they're not yours, they are my own"

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