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Previous Volume 355:426-427 July 27, 2006 Number 4 Next

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By Padmashree Gehl Sampath. 274 pp. Tokyo, United Nations University Press, 2005. $36. ISBN 92-808-1112-6.

Early European explorers sailed east and west in search of gold, silver, and rare spices, but some of the most extraordinary riches that they found were the medicinal plants of the New World. Throughout human history, cultures have identified medicinal properties in plants, and many of those plants remain in use today. Aspirin, chloroquine, the digitalis glycosides, morphine, curare, vincristine, and paclitaxel were all discovered in nature. Many of the plants from which these drugs were isolated had a history of use in traditional medicines. In addition to pharmaceuticals, botanical products (herbals) — including echinacea, ginkgo, saw palmetto, and St. . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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