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GARLIC
(Allium sativum)
COMMON NAMES: Clove garlic.
MEDICINAL PART: The bulb.
DESCRIPTION: Barlic is a perennial plant that is widely cultivated as one of the most common kitchen herbs. The garlic bulb is compound, consisting of individual bulbs, or cloves, enclosed together un a white skin. The stem is simple, smooth, and round and is surrounded at the bottom by tubular leaf sheaths from which grow the long, flat, linear leaves. The stem is topped byy a rounded umbel of small, white, usually sterile flowers, among which frow 20 to 30 small bulbs. The entire umbel is at first enclosed in a teardrop-shaped leaf (pointing upward) which eventually falls off.
PROPERTIES AND USES: Anthelmintic, antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, digestive, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge. Garlic stimulates the activity of the digestive organs and therefore relieves various problems associated with poor digestion. As an expectorant, it is useful for cronic stomach and intestinal catarrh, as well as for chronic bronchitis. Garlic also regularizes the action of the liver and gallbladder. It is helpful for all intestinal infections, such as dysentery, cholera, typhoid and paratyphoid fever, and for problems due to putrefactive intestinal bacteria. The tincture of garlic lowers blood pressure and helps circulation and helps to counteract arteriosclerosis. Its beneficial effect on blood circulation and heart action can bring relief for many common body complaints. A cold extract of garlic can be used as an enema for intestinal worms, particularly pinworms. The problem with garlic is that when you use it you inheret the smell along with the benefits.
PREPERATION AND DOSAGE: Gather bulbs in the fall.
Juice: Take 1/2 tsp of the juice pressed from the bulb, thinned with water, 2 or 3 times a day.
Cold extract: Let several cloves of garlic stand in 1/2 cup water for 6 to 8 hours.
Cloves: For coughs, take grated garlic mixed with honey.
Tincture: Let 1/2 lb. peeled cloves soak in 1 qt brandy for 14 days at a temperature of 85F in a bottle with an airtight seal. Shake several times a day. Take 20 to 25 drops, several times a day, as needed.
