Simple Remedies to Specific Medicines, the Path from Thomson to the Physiomedicalists and the Eclectics (Live at 17th IHS)

The following presentation was recorded live at the 17th International Herb Symposium, September 2025.

The maxim “those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it” often seems to be more than a belief , but an actual fact. We do the same things expecting different results and most often are disappointed in the outcomes. The Physiomedicalist and Eclectic Physicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries are our herbal forebears and have much to teach us. They too had issues with adulteration of herbs, bought into the myth of standardization of medicines , fought amongst themselves instead of recognizing they had much more in common than what separated them and faded into history with the advent of new miracle medicines from the laboratory. In this class we will discuss these early botanic medical movements (the Thomsonian’s, the Physiomedicalist’s and the Eclectics), the important figures in each group and the important discoveries they made about diagnosis, materia medica and the practice of medicine, that are as pertinent today as they where 100 years ago. We will also explore the concept of Specific Medication and how it can help us to more appropriately apply herbs to health issues with specificity and greater efficacy.