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Christoph Tschupp, Johanniskraut: Hypericum perforatum L. vom Hexenkraut zum modernen Arzneimittel, Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Pharmazie, vol 26, Liebefeld, SGGP/SSHP, 2004, pp. viii, 552, illus., euro35.00, Sw Fr 49.00 (paperback 3-9522758-4-0).
Paracelsus called the herb Perforata and everyone knew what he was talking about. In popular belief Hypericum perforatum L. (St John's Wort) (HP) was the healing, anti-magic and magic plant received from God, which so infuriated the devil that he bit holes in the leaves. By making a small hole in a sprig and looking through it, one could observe all the witches present at a Roman Catholic service. These are a few tricks from sagas and legends I do not find in the book discussed here. However, in his dissertation-accomplished under the supervision of Professor F Ledermann-the author has provided an impressive quantity of information on HP as a medicine in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In Hippocrates' work we find the first written indications on the use of the plant for sciatica, inflammations and pus formation. Pliny the Elder gave a clear...