Ancient herbalist theory
The
doctrine of signatures
, dating from the time of
Dioscorides
and
Galen
, states that herbs resembling various parts of the body can be used by
herbalists
to treat ailments of those body parts. A theological justification, as stated by botanists such as
William Coles
, was that God would have wanted to show men what plants would be useful for.
Today considered
pseudoscience
,
[1]
the practice has historically led to many deaths and severe illnesses. For instance,
birthwort
(so-called because of its resemblance to the uterus) was once used widely for pregnancies, but is carcinogenic and very damaging to the kidneys, owing to its
aristolochic acid
content.
[2]
As a defense against
predation
, many plants contain toxic chemicals, the action of which is not immediately apparent, or easily tied to the plant rather than other factors.
History
[
edit
]
The concept dates from the time of
Dioscorides
and
Galen
.
[
citation needed
]
Paracelsus
(1493?1541) developed the concept, writing that "Nature marks each growth ... according to its curative benefit",
[3]
and it was followed by
Giambattista della Porta
in his
Phytognomonica
(1588).
The writings of
Jakob Bohme
(1575?1624) spread the doctrine of signatures. He suggested that God marked objects with a sign, or "signature", for their purpose.
[4]
Plants bearing parts that resembled human body-parts, animals, or other objects were thought to have useful relevance to those parts, animals, or objects. The "signature" could sometimes also be identified in the environments or specific sites in which plants grew. Bohme's 1621 book
The Signature of All Things
gave its name to the doctrine.
[3]
The English physician-philosopher Sir
Thomas Browne
in his discourse
The Garden of Cyrus
(1658) uses the
Quincunx
pattern as an archetype of the 'doctrine of signatures' pervading the design of gardens and orchards, botany and the Macrocosm at large.
The 17th century botanist William Coles supposed that God had made 'Herbes for the use of men, and hath given them particular Signatures, whereby a man may read ... the use of them.'
[3]
Coles's
The Art of Simpling
and
Adam in Eden
, stated that
walnuts
were good for curing head ailments because in his opinion, "they Have the perfect Signatures of the Head". Regarding
Hypericum
, he wrote, "The little holes whereof the leaves of Saint Johns wort are full, doe resemble all the pores of the skin and therefore it is profitable for all hurts and wounds that can happen thereunto."
[4]
A theological justification was made for this philosophy: "It was reasoned that the Almighty must have set his sign upon the various means of curing disease which he provided".
For the late medieval viewer, the natural world was vibrant with images of the Deity: '
as above, so below
,' a
Hermetic
principle expressed as the relationship between
macrocosm and microcosm
; the principle is rendered
sicut in terra
.
Michel Foucault
expressed the wider usage of the doctrine of signatures, which rendered
allegory
more real and more cogent than it appears to a modern eye:
Up to the end of the sixteenth century, resemblance played a constructive role in the knowledge of Western culture. It was resemblance that largely guided
exegesis
and the interpretation of texts; it was resemblance that organized the play of symbols, made possible knowledge of things visible and invisible, and controlled the art of representing them. (
The Order of Things
, p. 17)
Signatures of some plants used in herbalism
[
edit
]
The concept of signatures is reflected in the common names of some plants whose shapes and colors reminded herbalists of the parts of the body where they were thought to do good, as for instance:
Concepts similar to the doctrine of signatures may be found in folk or indigenous medicines, and in modern
alternative medicines
.
[
citation needed
]
In literature
[
edit
]
The phrase "signatures of all things" appears in the beginning of episode 3 in James Joyce's novel
Ulysses
. The character Stephen Dedalus walking along the beach, thinking to himself "Signatures of all things I am here to read, seaspawn and seawrack, the nearing tide, that rusty boot". The Canadian poet
Anne Szumigalski
, 1922?1999, entitled her third full-length collection
Doctrine of Signatures
.
Scientific skepticism
[
edit
]
The signatures are described as
post hoc attributions
and
mnemonics
,
[10]
of value only in creating a system for remembering actions attributed to medical herbs. There is no scientific evidence that plant shapes and colors help in the discovery of medical uses of plants.
[10]
Another explanation is that the human mind, in trying to find patterns to explain phenomena, while lacking adequate scientific knowledge, resorts to
anthropomorphism
.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
- ^
Simon, Matt (14 August 2014).
"Fantastically Wrong: The Strange History of Using Organ-Shaped Plants to Treat Disease"
.
Wired
. Conde Nast
. Retrieved
7 March
2018
.
- ^
Robertson, John.
"Aristolochia, birthwort"
.
The Poison Garden
. John Robertson. Archived from
the original
on 15 March 2010
. Retrieved
9 May
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Doctrine of Signatures"
. Science Museum. Archived from
the original
on January 3, 2014
. Retrieved
February 8,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Pearce, J.M.S. (May 16, 2008).
"The Doctrine of Signatures"
(PDF)
.
European Neurology
.
60
(1). karger.com: 51?52.
doi
:
10.1159/000131714
.
PMID
18520149
.
S2CID
207742334
. Retrieved
August 31,
2008
.
- ^
McDougal, Kevin (2013).
"Hedge Woundwort"
. Archived from
the original
on December 15, 2013
. Retrieved
February 8,
2014
.
- ^
"The Tudors"
(PDF)
. Birmingham Botanical Gardens
. Retrieved
11 November
2014
.
- ^
Irvine, Alexander (1860).
The Phytologist: A Botanical Journal, Volume 4
. William Pamplin. p. 308.
As late as 1657 we find William Coles, who was a herbarist ... speaking of Spleenwort, or Miltwort, tells us that the learned Crollius, amongst the signatures of parts, doth set down Ceterach to have the signature of the spleen, and that therefore it is profitable for all diseases thereof;
- ^
a
b
Bennett, Bradley C. (2007).
"Doctrine of Signatures: An Explanation of Medicinal Plant Discovery or Dissemination of Knowledge?"
.
Economic Botany
.
61
(3): 246?255.
doi
:
10.1663/0013-0001(2007)61[246:DOSAEO]2.0.CO;2
.
ISSN
0013-0001
.
S2CID
28292316
. Retrieved
2008-08-31
.
- ^
Buchanan, Scott (2014).
The Doctrine of Signatures, A Defence of Theory in Medicine
. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. p. 142.
ISBN
978-0415614153
.
Bibliography
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Boehme, Jakob (1651)
Signatura Rerum
(The Signature of All Things). Gyles Calvert.
- --- Translation by J. Ellistone.
- Buchanan, Scott Milross (1938)
The doctrine of signatures: a defense of theory in medicine
.
- Cole, W. (1657)
Adam in Eden or Nature's Paradise
. J Streater for Nathanial Brooke.
- Conrad, L.I.; M Neve, V Nutton and R Porter (1995).
The Western Medical Tradition, 800 BC ? 1800 AD
. Cambridge University Press.
- Porter, Roy (1997)
The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present
. HarperCollins.