The Book of Spices

(ngan-mo or t'uei-na) was featured in the Classics. Chou Yu-fan (c. 1575) rediscovered and explained it in order to lessen pain (treating the body by rubbing, pressing with or between the fingers). Chapter 8: (pp. 152-57). Gymnastic or bodily exercises were recommended with breathing exercises. The Chinese gymnastic exercises (T'ai-chi ch'ian) were discussed with fifteen positions. Chapter 9: (pp. 158-62) offers other treatments (cupping glass). Chapter 10: (pp. 162-75) introduces a classification for Chinese drugs. Chapter 11: (pp. 176-83) foresees great possibilities in Chinese traditional medicine. Summing up I must say that this volume is most welcome not only for the armchair reader interested in Chinese medicine but also for research workers. A pictorial record is provided by 40 plates and a bibliography gives detailed references to almost every section. The book is written to encompass the interests of both historians and practitioners of Chinese medicine. This is a most unusual work-indeed, it is probably unique-for it offers us a well-researched and documented history of spices, followed by a botanical description of the individual spice plants, with special reference to the parts of the plant used, and an account of the spice trade. As if this were not enough we are regaled with a great array of culinary recipes in which spices are best employed. Before discovering this factual information on the contents of the book, our enthusiasm is aroused by the splendour of the production. The wealth of illustration, and particularly the superb colour plates, testify to the close collaboration of author and publisher in ensuring that no expense would be spared in making this the definitive work on the subject. The importance of spices in the history of medical treatment is well known. From the time of ancient Egypt, when the labourers building the temples and pyramids were given onions and garlic to preserve their health, to the present day, they have entered into a great number of medicinal preparations. The apothecary began as the medieval spicer and many of the old household accounts of the sovereign reveal the vast sums that were often expended on the supply of spices. The fortunes to be made in the spice trade provided one of the incentives for the great voyages to the Indies which resulted in the discovery of America, and in succeeding centuries botanists and agriculturists vied with each other in efforts, often unsuccessful, to naturalize some of these …