feverwort to treat fever and liverwort to cure liver disease

An example of a historical medical idea now considered to be an alternative conception:

"Another one of the common beliefs of [Paracelsus's] day was the doctrine of signatures which dictated the use of certain plants in medicine because their names resembled the part of the body afflicted or the disease itself. The feverwort, for instance, was used to reduce fever, and the liverwort to cure diseases of the liver."

Bernard Jaffe (1934) Crucibles. The Lives and Achievements of the Great Chemists. Jarrolds Publishers.

Author: Keith

Former school and college science teacher, teacher educator, research supervisor, and research methods lecturer. Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.