Wild Health: Lessons in Natural Wellness from the Animal Kingdom
by Cindy Engel
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used Very Good/yes
- ISBN 10
- 0618340688
- ISBN 13
- 9780618340682
- Seller
-
Pella, Iowa, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
This is the first book on a fascinating new field in biology -- zoopharmacognosy, or animal self-medication -- and its lessons for humans. When Rachel Carson published SILENT SPRING, few people knew the meaning of the word "ecology." Even fewer people today probably know the meaning of "zoopharmacognosy." But that is about to change. In WILD HEALTH, Cindy Engel explores the extraordinary range of ways animals keep themselves healthy, carefully separating scientifically verifiable fact from folklore, hard data from daydreams. As with holistic medicine for humans, there turns out to be more fact in folklore than was previously thought. How do animals keep themselves healthy? They eat plants that have medicinal properties. They select the right foods for a nutritionally balanced diet, often doing a better job of it than humans do. Animals even seek out psychoactive substances -- they get drunk on fermented fruit, hallucinate on mushrooms, become euphoric with opium poppies. They also manipulate their own reproduction with plant chemistry, using some plants as aphrodisiacs and others to enhance fertility. WILD HEALTH includes scores of remarkable examples of the ways animals medicate themselves. - Desert tortoises will travel miles to mine and eat the calcium needed to keep their shells strong. - Monkeys, bears, coatis, and other animals rub citrus oils and pungent resins into their coats as insecticides and antiseptics against insect bites. - Chimpanzees swallow hairy leaves folded in a certain way to purge their digestive tracts of parasites. - Birds line their nests with plants that protect their chicks from blood-draining mites and lice. In other words, animals try to keep themselves healthy in many of the same ways humans do; in fact, much of early human medicine, including many practices being revived today as "alternative medicine," arose through observations of animals. And, as WILD HEALTH, animals still have a lot to teach us. We could use a little more wild health ourselves.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Pella Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 218618
- Title
- Wild Health: Lessons in Natural Wellness from the Animal Kingdom
- Author
- Cindy Engel
- Format/Binding
- Trade Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- yes
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0618340688
- ISBN 13
- 9780618340682
- Publisher
- Mariner Books
- Place of Publication
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Date Published
- March 2003
- Pages
- 288
Terms of Sale
Pella Books
Terms of Sale All items returnable for refund if, for any reason, you're not happy with the purchase, within ten days of delivery, but the same book must be returned in the same condition that it was in when it was shipped. If you have any questions about a book, please e-mail or call before ordering. We are an open brick and mortar store; books are subject to prior sale. We can accept only prepaid orders. We will provide a pro forma invoice if the total is over $50.00. If not using a credit card, books are held for seven days pending payment. Books are shipped by U. S. Postal Service media rate unless other arrangements are made. Priority is at least $7.50 for the first book or more depending on the zone and weight and $2.00 for each additional book; please e-mail or call to inquire about priority. Shipping/handling for sets, oversize books, and international shipping is extra: please e-mail or call to inquire. Although we do not designate every oversize book in the description, we will e-mail for approval that shipping/handling or tax is added to the amount before we charge your credit card. For domestic orders, we accept VISA, MasterCard, check, and money order. Because of currency conversion charges, international orders must be made with credit card. Iowa residents must add 7% sales tax. We gladly drop ship.
About the Seller
Pella Books
About Pella Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Trade Paperback
- Used to indicate any paperback book that is larger than a mass-market paperback and is often more similar in size to a hardcover...