Natural Remedies
The use of natural products, such as wild herbs and berries, accessible to healers developed into today’s science of pharmacology. Early humankind had a wealth of knowledge about the medicinal properties of the plants, trees, and fungi in their environment. They knew how to prepare concoctions from the bark and roots of trees and from berries and wildflowers. Countless herbal preparations that were used many generations ago are in popular use today. Examples in- clude purple foxglove, which contains the cardiotonic digitalis, that was used for centuries to slow the heart rate and feverfew, used to treat headaches.