Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Plant R Glossary
Refrigerants
- an old medical term, now rarely used, referring to plant drugs which cool the blood and reduce fever. In this day of looking for causes rather than alleviating the symptoms, a modern doctor would likely be amused at the term.
Rheumatism
- a condition characterized by stiffness of the joints or muscles. Evidences of the depredations of rheumatism have been found in the bones of prehistoric man, and it is said that 10 percent of all Americans are afflicted with what used to be called “the misery.” It is, therefore, not strange that possibly 50 plants of this book have been prescribed, or that quacks glibly promise cures for rheumatism. In view of the fact that acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) is one of the current and only known medicines used by doctors for the alleviation of rheumatism, one could suppose that those plants which contain salicylic acid might have been of help. As for the majority of the herbs mentioned, the psychological value of none of them can be discounted.
Rhus Poisoning
- an itching skin disorder resulting from infection by the oily poison of various members of the Rhus family, the common three-leaved poison ivy especially. Special note should be taken that poison ivy appears in slightly variant forms in various parts of the country and under the name of poison oak as well as ivy. A white-fruited shrub form of Rhus is highly poisonous to some. Also, one may be violently poisoned by the smoke from burning ivy plants or from the slightest contact with the plants. Different people are affected in different ways and by different plants.
Some household and garden chemicals may cause a skin irritation called dermatitis, which is not unlike the manifestations of poison ivy.
Rubefacients
- substances which redden the skin. A number of plants, including nettles,are so described in herbals. Beyond the need of girls for bright pink cheeks to attract the men, one wonders who would want to rub his cheeks with nettles.