Abstract
Some evidence of the existence of an ancient pharmacological theory—the Doctrine of Signatures—has been found in the folk medicine of Israel. The research reported 14 plants with folk medicinal uses based on the Doctrine of Signatures categories including: similarity of the plant or plant organ to the damaged human organ (Alhagi maurorum, camel thorn;Astragalus macrocarpus, milk-vetch; andCynoglossum creticum, blue hound’s tongue), similarity to animal shape or behavior (Heliotropium europaeum, European turnsole;Asteriscus spinosus, starwort; andBriza maxima, large quaking grass), similarity of plant color to the color of the disease’s symptoms or the medical phenomena (Rhamnus alaternus, Italian buckthorn;Citrullus colocynthis, bitter gourd; andEcballium elaterium, squirting cucumber), and similarity of plant habitat or characteristic to human features (Parietaria judaica, wall pellitory; andRuta chalepensis, African rue).
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Alrawi, Ali, and H. L. Chaakravarty. 1964. Medicinal plants of Iraq, Ministry of Agriculture Technology, Bulletin no. 146, Baghdad.
Arber, A. 1970. Herbals, their origin and evolution. Hafner Publishing Co., Darien, CT.
Bairacli Levey, J. 1982. The illustrated herbal handbook. Faber & Faber, London.
Bailee, W. 1994. Footprints of the forest. Colombia University Press, New York.
Baquar, S. R. 1989. Medicinal and poisonous plants of Pakistan. Printas, Karachi.
Bhattacharjee, S. K. 1998. Handbook of medicinal plants. Pointer, Jaipur.
Boehme, J. 1912. The signature of all things: with other writings. J. M. Dent, New York.
Boulus, L. 1983. Medicinal plants of North Africa. Reference Publications, Inc., Michigan.
Chopra, B. A., and K. L. Handa. 1960. Medicinal plants of the arid zone. UNESCO.
Cole, W. 1656. Art of simpling. Nath Brook, London.
Conway, D. 1973. The magic of herbs. Jonathan Cape, London.
Culpeper, N. (nd). Complete herbal. W. Foulsham & Co., Berks.
Dafni, A., Z. Yaniv, and D. Palevitch. 1984. Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in Northern Israel. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 10:295–310.
Dastur, J. F. 1970. Medicinal plants of India and Pakistan. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay.
Dyer, T. F. T. 1889. The folk-lore of plants. Shatto & Windus, Piccadilly, London.
Evans, D. 1984. The doctrine of signature as the explanation of some puzzling names and uses of plants. Pages 66–74in R. Vickery, ed., Plant-lore studies. University College London, London.
Folkard, R. 1892. Plant-lore legends and lyrics. Sampson Low, Morston & Company, London.
Foucault, M. 1970. The order of things. Tavistock Publications, London.
Frazer, G. J. 1944. Magic and religion. Watts & Co., London.
Fahmy, I. R. 1963. Drug plants of Egypt. Planta Medica 11:202–224.
Ghazanfar, A. S. 1994. Arabian medicinal plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Ann Arbor, London, Tokyo.
Gunther, R. T. 1959. The greek herbal of Dioscorides. Hafner Publishing Co., New York.
Hare’ueni, E. 1930. Medicinal and magic plants of the Arabs in Palestine. Harefua 4:112–127. (In Hebrew).
Honda, G., E. Yesilada, M. Sezik Tabata, E. Fujita, T. Takeda, Y. Takaishi, T. Takaishi, and T. Tanaka. 1996. Traditional medicine in Turkey VI. Folk medicine in West Anatolia: Afyon, Kutahya, Denizli, Mugla, Aydin provinces. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 53:75–87.
Hooper, D. 1937. Useful plants and drugs of Iran and Iraq, Botanical Series, Field Museum of Natural History IX(3), Chicago, IL.
Jashemshi, F. W. 1999. A Pompeian herbal. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Klein, R. M. 1987. The green world. Harper and Row, New York.
Kotb, F. 1985. Medicinal plants in Libya. Arab Encyclopedia House, Tripoli.
Levi-Strauss, C. 1966. The savage mind. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Lewis, H. W., and P. F. Memory Elevin-Lewis. 1977. Medical botany, plants affecting man’s health. John Wiley & Sons, New York, London, Sydney, Toronto.
Lownes, A. E. 1940. The strong case of Coles vs. Culpeper. Journal of the New York Botanical Garden 41:158–166.
Medicus, F. 1936. The significance of Paracelsus. Bulletin of the Institute of the History of Medicine (IV) 5:353–366.
Middleditch, B. S., and M. A. Amer. 1991. Kuwaiti plants. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Milliken, W., P. R. Miller, R. S. Pollard, and V. E. Wandelli. 1992. The ethnobotany of the Waimiri Atroari Indians of Brazil. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Nyazema, N. M., J. Ndamba, C. Anderson, N. Makaza, and K. C. Kaondera. 1994. The doctrine of signature or similitude’s: a comparison of the efficacy of praziquantel and traditional herbal remedies used for the treatment of urinary schistosomiasis in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Pharmacognosy 32(2): 142–148.
Palaiseul, J. 1973. Grandmother’s Secrets. Penguin Books, London.
Paracelsus. 1656. Supreme mysteries of nature (trns. R. Turner). Brook and Harrison, London.
Porta, G. 1588. Phytognomonica. Apud Honatium salvianum. Naples.
Reiani, Y. 1963. Medicinal substances of the Yemenite Jews. M.Sc. thesis, (School of Pharmacology), Hebrew University, Israel. (In Hebrew).
Standard, J. 1985. The theoretical bases of medieval herbalism. Medical Heritage 1:186–198.
Tambiah, J. S. 1990. Magic, science, religion, and the scope of rationality. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Theophrastus. 1968. Enquiry into plants. Harvard University Press, London. (Loeb Edition).
Tippo, O., and L. W. Stern. 1977. Humanistic botany. Norton, New York.
Vickery, R. 1995. A dictionary of plant-lore. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dafni, A., Lev, E. The doctrine of signatures in present-day Israel. Econ Bot 56, 328–334 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2002)056[0328:TDOSIP]2.0.CO;2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2002)056[0328:TDOSIP]2.0.CO;2