Lotions, Potions, and Deadly Elixirs : Frontier Medicine in the American West (Paperback)

from oldman

Lotions, Potions and Deadly Elixirs by Wayne Bethard is an enjoyable book about the reality of frontier medicine. Beginning with an explanation of the different forms of medicines available to those living in the frontier regions of our country before modern medicine the book ends with a useful l...

from ladycato

I read this for the sake of writing research. I found it to be somewhat useful yet disappointing. This book really seeks to fill a big void: medicine practices in the American pioneer. It's easy to find books on modern medicines and poisons, but there's a lot less on the period of the famed snake...

from thornton37814

Bethard, a Texas pharmacist, has penned a book dealing with medicines used on the frontier up through modern times. The first two sections are a hodge-podge of information on from the types of medicines used and the effects various treatments had. The third part is an alphabetical listing of medi...

from VioletBramble

A history of western frontier medicine that includes the uses of multiple chemicals, plants and herbs. It also covers their methods of preparation and administration. The section titled Frontier and Pioneer Drugs: A Folk Materica Medica is an alphabetical listing of the medical properties of plan...

from hardlyhardy

Reading "Lotions, Potions, and Deadly Elixirs" by Wayne Bethard, I was struck less by the seemingly outrageous remedies used in frontier medicine -- things like gunpowder, manure and actual snake oil -- than by the many medicines that really worked and are still in use today. How did they discove...