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To the Heart of the Matter
Since its establishment in 1864, the name of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists has been
synonymous with the lineage of contemporary WHM. Having its origins in Physiomedicalism, the
National Institute has, since its inception, influenced WHM practice by presenting an eclectic
approach to herbal therapy, incorporating Physiomedicalist philosophies with contemporary
physiological understanding (Mills 1991). This adaptation of physiological information, has been
moderated by a phenomenological interpretation (Mills 1991), which has maintained the criteria of
a vitalistic application.
The academic influence of Physiomedicalist based herbal practice is evident in contemporary herbal
texts and in the practice and teachings of Medical Herbalists. However, the emergence of the
Phytotherapeutic approach in the 1980’s C.E. has begun to shift the focus of WHM practice
towards a more biomedically-based approach (Griggs 1997).
The therapeutic information presented in this dissertation is based upon the empirical traditions
found within WHM. The therapeutic references used in the following discussion, have been chosen
with the criteria that they are representative of the lineage of empirically based humoral or
Physiomedicalist practice. Modern texts utilising purely biomedical arguments to support a herbal
therapeutic approach have not been included as reference material in this dissertation. Similarly, use
of the term ‘contemporary WHM’ within this work, refers to the lineage of empirical herbal
practice, and excludes the more recent biomedically based approaches in Herbal Medicine.
The discussion of specific herbal therapeutic actions/indications, which is the foundation of WHM,
can be described as being the one area of WHM where the context of history becomes transparent.
The herbal monographs employed in WHM, present pharmacological explanations of herb activities
in juxtaposition with ancient traditional applications (for example the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia
1983 (BHMA 1983) ) and the popular Modern Herbal of Hilda Leyel 14 first published in 1931
(Leyel 1994). The language used in traditional and pharmacological descriptions of herbal activities
can often differ, reflecting differences in the epistemological framework within which the
information is presented (ibid.). However, within WHM texts, the biomedical definition of
traditional herbal activities is rarely questioned and similarly the biomedical information is not used
to rationalise traditional descriptions. Perhaps this is the epitome of good WHM practice, where
data is presented as a basis for study and understanding and not as dogma. This approach is
14 Hilda Leyel. Herbal healer and co-founder of the Society of Herbalists in 1927.
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