The use of plants with the intention of healing can already be found in the earliest layers of Babylonian, ancient Egyptian, Indian (hymns of the Rig Veda) or Chinese texts, as well as the explicit cultivation of medicinal herbs. While the gathering of medicinal herbs was a basic component of subsistence farming in earlier times, the use of medicinal plants as medicines is still practised worldwide today, especially in economically difficult situations. The organic farming movement has also made medicinal herbs popular again. (Wiki) The volume is illustrated with over 500 b/w illustrations. Reprint of the original edition from 1900.