> whyzard@mail.com wrote:

>> works in a society with lots of plants
>> the world heating up like it is with many species of plants vanishing
>> since the ice age finally receded, plant based pharmaceuticals no
>> longer became viable
>> current research into ancient and medieval or primitive recipes and
>> medicines is revealin startling medicinal qualities in many plant
>> combinations
>> unfortunately, modern science can only understand plant properties if
>> they can isolate the active compounds
>> minus good luck, they are stuck with plants with many active compounds
>> with unknown properties they don't know how to test for and detect
>> also too plants changes chemical properties over time so many ancient
>> recipes just don't work today and we just don't know which plants the
>> ancients or primitives actually used

> Well actually, we do know something. Modern forensic tools have been
> brought into obscure East European museums to look for plant resins and
> pollens in ancient pots. There are some clues as to what Transylvanian
> witches were actually cooking up.
>
> But yes, your point well taken. I've collected Amanita Muscaria in my neck
> of Ozark woods, and while tasty, they dont have the psychedelic power of
> those imported from other regions. I've also seen pscilocybin fungi here,
> but they also have no psychotropic powers.
>
> Acid rain and pollution has changed the soils, and so plants and fungi do
> not necessarily have the same effect as the record suggests.