In our text we will find many herbs used by them for the liver, blood regenerating, nerve tonics, to restore vitality, strengthen the stomach, etc., all of which have a purpose in systemic harmony. By comparison is it fair to say their available source of nourishment surpasses our mechanized, socialized, chemical( synthetic) existence?
SAMUEL THOMSON THE WHITE MAN’ S NATURE HEALER
There were many ways and attempts of commercial exploitation, for good and bad, of Indian Herbalism and Folk Medicine use. Study of one Samuel Thomson deserves our attention. Samuel Thomson( 1769 – 1843) in literature is usually referred to as a doctor. His one month of schooling, lack of formal training and general education did not disparage the man and his ideals. The encyclopaedia mentions many prominent Thomson legions, but we cannot find a single word about Samuel Thomson and his system. There are many other incidents in world medical history where lack of socially accepted methods go unnoticed. He was first of all a very gifted person with a strong character, a believer in persuasion. He established his own conception, which of late is known and taught in colleges as Physio-Medicalism.
Thomson’ s practice included only harmless herbs of bodily correction. He was so successful that opposition from the medical profession was strong and uncompromising.‘ They succeeded in prosecuting him, but his name was cleared and he is now universally recognised as an outstanding figure in the medical world. We reviewed several outstanding“ one book authors” formally trained by medical standards but who changed to the Thomson system because of previous unfavourable experience. In England his system was successfully adopted by Herbalist A. I. Coffin( 1798 – 1866), Samuel Westcott Tilke( 1794) and many others. Emphasis on his significance was created by knowledge of Indian Herbalogy and Indian Folk Medicine.
It is reasonably estimated that Samuel Thomson effectively treated and helped 2,000,000 people, some say as many as 3,000,000. This of course includes personal analysis and people following his system under guidance. We are not preaching success without education, but to Thomson’ s critics this was their point, no education, professional training; why he could hardly speak proper English, and his writing was best interpreted by himself.
The acquaintance of Dr. Thomson’ s review is not for promotion of his theory and practice but to bring to your attention the amount of success possible from even local Indian Herbs and Folk Medicine. Knowledge of plant life was from his immediate area and still the doctor gained more recognition than any single person in the American history of medicine. An unanswered thought persists: What can we accomplish from total Indian Herbalogy? The arguments and objections because Samuel Thomson could not read and write proper English had little control over Herbal identification, use, and success of dispensing plant life as human correction. It so happens that the Indians had never heard of this language before the white man came. North American natives, with 25,000 – 30,000 years of pre-Columbian experience in sickness and health, herbs have a positive internal language of their own.
CIVILIZATION VERSUS CULTURE