The symptoms of multiple sclerosis are not always the same, so that the identity of the disease sometimes escapes diagnosis, especially in its early stages. One of the earliest symptoms is often the absence of the abdominal reflex. A fairly reliable diagnostic sign concerns the optic nerves. In this case, by using an ophthalmoscope the eye specialist will observe demyelination where the optic nerve enters at the back of the eye.

It is important to begin treatment as soon as the disease has been diagnosed, since the chances of success are then better than if it is neglected, although many orthodox medical doctors do not agree with this view, or do so only reluctantly. Years ago, a lady from eastern Switzerland came to me for treatment. Three or four doctors and a professor had diagnosed multiple sclerosis. The symptoms of paralysis were only slight to begin with. About three months later, when the lady went to see a specialist, he did not believe that she had suffered from multiple sclerosis, since she was found to be in good health. If she had had multiple sclerosis, the doctor contended, she could not be well again, because there was no cure for it and no one had so far been cured. The treatment she was given is the first of those outlined below.

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In many other areas, for example in North Africa and Egypt or Sri Lanka and India, travellers are exposed to the ever-present danger of hookworms. This dangerous worm is so widespread that Professor Dr Nauck, one of the foremost specialists in tropical diseases, believes that over 500 million people are infested with it. According to his estimate, every fifth person in the tropics is a carrier of this dangerous parasite.

Not only are roundworms and the tiny threadworms or pin-worms extremely widespread in tropical lands and islands, but the even more dangerous whipworms are abundant in some areas, so that practically all the inhabitants are infested with one kind or another of these parasites.

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The diet should be low in protein and all white flour products should be avoided, as well as white sugar. Instead, stick to a natural wholefood diet and take plenty of juices, including beetroot, carrot and celery. Horseradish and young nettles should be eaten daily and, as a supplement to the diet, oysters, shrimps and squid have great therapeutic value.

A carrot juice diet is beneficial. Juices of grapefruit, grapes and oranges are also excellent. Experience will tell which juice suits you best, because certain acids, although harmless to people in good health, do not always agree with someone who is not quite so well. If you want to achieve good results without complications, follow the reactions of your body and take care. Also, drink only reasonable quantities of the juices, because you could do more harm than good by overdoing it. Caution is recommended even when the juices and remedies which are to help reduce weight are natural.

Extracts from animal glands may be helpful, but only if given in the appropriate doses, because they may otherwise do more harm than good. Exercise and deep-breathing, preferably in mountain or ocean air, are among some of the best remedies for stimulating the glands.

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Even the most difficult case will yield to this treatment, providing the proper diet is maintained and very little salt and protein is ingested. When it comes to skin disorders, salt is a poison and the metabolic toxins resulting from an excess intake of animal protein aggravate these diseases in general and psoriasis in particular. Further advice on diet is given on pages 180-1. If there is a discharge of pus from the eruption, Hepar sulph. 4x should be taken. If the trouble is connected with an acid condition of the body or if there is an oozing, burning, blistering rash with painful itching, then Rhus tox. 4x to 6x will be the best remedy. Arsenicum alb. 4x to 6x is good for both dry and oozing eruptions which burn and irritate especially by night. In cases of chronic eruptions the homoeopathic sulphur remedies Sulphur 6x and Sulphur iod. 4x to 6x have proven their worth, particularly if the eruption is of a scrofulous nature. Finally, if the disease is the result of a tendency

to rheumatism or gout, then Calcarea carb. 4x alternated with Lycopodium 6x would be indicated.

Whatever the cause, it is useful to add a calcium preparation which incorporates nettles, for example Urticalcin, to the other medication. And do not forget that Violaforce (heartsease drops) is an especially effective remedy for skin disorders.

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We have all developed the bad habit of using the motor car for every little errand instead of walking. It is most unusual for a person who owns a car to take regular walks, not even when it is just a stone’s throw to the corner shop. We have become a generation spoiled by the many inventions that make life easier: we no longer want to walk, we no longer want to use our limbs, and our muscles suffer from disuse. Many people are not aware of the danger that results from this way of life. Our circulation suffers and there may even be a deterioration of the entire vascular system as well as of the heart. Monotonous mental activity may lead to tensions, stagnation in the circulatory system, spasms, high blood pressure and many other problems. All these things are potential causes of heart attacks, especially for people in their late fifties.

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Herb oils have many uses. They can be used in salad dressings, and a few drops added to cooking oil when quickly frying vegetables or meat can transform the dish completely. I do not eat sausages, but a friend who does tells me that a few drops of rosemary oil, added when frying them, turns the humble “snag” into a connoisseur’s delight. Here is how to make a herb oil:

Buy some good quality bland oil, like samower or almond (peanut and olive oil are not suitable) and fill a screwtopped jar f full with it. Then pick a good handful of the herb you need, it may be rosemary, thyme, lavender, or peppermint, and bruise it well in the mortar and pestle, adding a little white wine vinegar as you go (about 1 tablespoon). Then add the crushed herb and vinegar to the jar containing the oil, seal tightly, and shake it vigorously. Stand the jar on a hot sunny window-ledge or against a wall where it will get maximum heat. This is best done in the hot summer months, but if you want to do it in winter, stand it in the warm (not hot) zone of a radiator, oil heater or fire. Shake it well every day for about three weeks. Test the oil by rubbing it on your skin. If the fragrance is still there after a few minutes, the oil is “done”. If not, crush some more of the herb and repeat for another couple of weeks. Then strain, and bottle, sealing well.

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Tarragon Sauce

Make a roux of 1 1\2 oz. butter, 1 oz. flour, and add 1\2 pint of milk or stock, 1 shallot, and a handful of chopped tarragon leaves. Simmer for several minutes.

Ravigote Sauce

(for chicken or other poultry)

1 cup brown stock

1 tablespoon each chopped tarragon, chervil, chives 1 crushed garlic clove

Pour all into the roasting pan after removing the fat, but leaving all the juices, and bring just to the boil. Serve with the herbs still in. This can also be used on spaghetti, with grated cheese.

Tongue with Tarragon

2 to 3 lb. sliced tongue (cut thin)

2 tablespoons chopped tarragon 1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon cornflour, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water 1\2 cup stock, or bouillon 1\2 cup red wine Crushed anise seed

Butter a shallow* baking-dish, and arrange sliced tongue in several layers, sprinkling capers and tarragon between. Combine the stock and cornflour on the stove, stirring till smooth. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Add crushed anise seed and red wine to mixture, then pour it over the tongue and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce catches at the side of the pan.

French Mustard

3 tablespoons dry mustard, mixed to a paste with cold water or white wine. Add 1\2 teaspoon sugar, 1 1\2 teaspoons tarragon vinegar, 1\2 teaspoon salt, 1 1\2\ teaspoons safflower oil, 1\4 teaspoon pepper. Mix all together, in blender if possible, to give it the true creamy texture.

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Some of the many types are listed here:

APPLEMINT. Soft, woolly, downy leaves, with a rounded shape, and a strong apple taste and perfume.

VARIEGATED APPLEMINT. Creamy yellow and light-green patched leaf, a very handsome plant. Not quite as much flavour as above. Will grow in open sunlight better than most.

EAU-DE-COLOGNE MINT. A most exotic perfume when crushed, as its name implies. This is a favourite for a perfumed bath. Dry the mint leaves and store in an airtight jar, or use a handful of the fresh leaves, well-bruised, in hot bath water.

SPEARMINT (Mentha spicata). Smoother sharp-pointed leaves, the best all-purpose flavouring mint. Used by the Romans and taken by them to Britain. Grown in monastery gardens. This variety can be affected badly by a type of rust disease which starts in the roots. The stems and leaves will discolour and the roots when lifted will be pulpy and rotten. Lift the whole mint patch and burn it, dig lime or dolomite well into the soil, and leave it for a season. Do not plant mint there again. A good soil, well fed and well limed in the first place, has less chance of incubating this destructive disease.

Spearmint planted near roses and other plants will deter aphis.

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Anethum graveolens UMBELLIFERAE

The first historfcal references to dill go back to records found in the Egyptian tombs. Physicians used it then in the same manner and for the same purpose as we do now, as a powerful digestive aid.

The herb is an annual, and can be grown easily from seed sown right through from spring to autumn. In warm areas it can be sown all the year round. If you let one plant flower and set seed, you will find a few small seedlings around the area the following season. Like all the Umbelliferae (of which the carrot is a member), dill produces a prodigious quantity of seeds from each plant, and these are the part of the herb most commonly used therapeutically.

Dill-water is just as effective nowadays as it was in grandmother’s day, and is possibly even more useful to us with our richer foods and more artificial diet. Soak 1 oz. of bruised dill seeds in 1 pint of cold water for 6 hours, then sweeten to taste with honey. Give one tablespoon to adults, 1 teaspoon to children, to relieve indigestion.

The plant is very attractive, growing to about 3 feet high, with the typical lacy foliage and umbrella-shaped heads of gold flowers. There is a delicate bluish tint to the mature leaves, and when the seed is ripe, the leaves turn purple. Full sunshine suits it best, with plenty of water and good drainage. Do not grow it too close to fennel or angelica, for these relations will cross-pollinate and may lose their own individual flavours. Gather the seed heads when ripe (the seeds will be darkish mauve-brown, with lighter ribs), and store until needed in sealed glass jars. The usual method of separating the seeds from the stems is to rub the stalks with the hands inside a large plastic bag. Dill seed can keep its germinating power up to ten years, so one original plant can provide seeds to give you a constant supply for many years.

Dill contains potassium, sodium, sulphur and phosphorus, and has a very distinctive slightly metallic taste. The leaves are used, too, by Continental cooks, and are added to goulash and many fish and vegetable dishes, as well as being used to garnish hors-d’oeuvre and smorgasbord delicacies. Crab and lobster meat seem to me natural partners for dill’s astringent flavour, and it helps, of course, in the digestion of the raw vegetables so often found in Scandinavian recipes.

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Try several leaves, chopped, to make tea in the usual manner. Pour a cup of boiling water over, and let stand for 5 minutes, or simmer the leaves in water for 3 or 4 minutes (do not boil), strain, and drink steaming hot with a few drops of lemon juice added. The herb has a great deal of saline mucilage, and its salty taste can be a valuable additive to mineral-salt-free diets. Indeed, it is one of the main ingredients, with kelp, in many vegetable salts. The same natural saline content helps reduce temperatures and fevers when the drink is taken hot, and promotes kidney health and activity when used fresh in salads. Chop the cucumber-flavoured leaves finely after washing well: your family or guests may not enjoy a large lump of hairy borage as much as tiny, more palatable pieces. It is very rich in potassium, needed for healthy tissues, bowels, kidneys and liver, and has large quantities of easily assimilable calcium as well. No wonder it kept those ancient warriors on their toes.

Borage was always classed as a herb of jolly Jupiter, a general blood and body strengthener. Its leaves, placed in a bowl of fruit punch, or liquid of any kind, will not only give that cool cucumber flavour, but will actually reduce its temperature.

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