The roots of modern western herbalism can be found in the grounded and empirical practices of the late 1700s through the early 1900s in Thomsonianism and Physiomedicalism, which placed great importance on the powers of observation and monitoring their effects on the vital force present in the human body. Physiomedicalism and its forebear Thomsonianism gave us the great fever doctors who pragmatically used “what worked,” integrating Native American medicine and Pioneer medicine. Even before the naming of the immune system, it was monitored and aided by practitioners of this era, using thermoregulation through sweat, steam, and herbs. Observation of the actions of the herbs defined the six tissue states that we use in Western herbalism today: excitation (hot), depression (cold), contraction (tense), relaxation (loose), atrophy (dry), and stagnation (damp, toxins).

Some of the topics covered are: Samuel Thomson - Thomsonianism, Just say no to poisonous plants!, Lobelia, Mrs. Benton, Sweat lodge, Thermoregulation (observable arm of the immune system), Vital force, Physiomedicalism, Albert Haller, Alva Curtis, Contraction and relaxation, and Tissue States.