This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Organized by body system and ailment makes it easy to locate appropriate therapies. Includes background on the physiology of major systems and ailments so readers can understand how and why a pharmaceutical, botanical, or dietary supplement works. Broad coverage includes green plants, fungi, and microorganisms. Includes extensive references and citations from both conventional and complimentary-alternative medical systems when natural products or their derivatives are involved.

The three volumes of Bigelow's book each originally appeared in two fascicules, making a total of six fascicules in all. Because sets of hand-colored engravings had already been prepared for Vol. I, fascicule 1, Bigelow used them to complete the earliest copies of that part in order to meet his publication deadlines, adding the color prints as soon as the stone-printing process was perfected. Wolfe declares that "there are two states of the first number in American medical botany, one having hand-colored plates and the other having color printed plates." In addition there are some copies which have a combination of hand-colored and color-printed plates in volume 1, fascicule 1.--J. Norman, 2006.