Michael Moore (herbalist)

Michael Moore is a medicinal herbalist, author of several reference works on botanical medicine, and founder of the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (SWSBM). Before he was an herbalist Michael Moore was a musician and a composer. ^[1] He operated the SWSBM as a residency program for 28 years, first in Albuquerque, New Mexico and later in Bisbee, Arizona For decades, Moore influenced, impacted, taught, reached one way or another more practicing herbalists than any other living herbalist in the United States. His books put the previously unknown materia medica of the southwest into mainstream botanical medicine. ^[2]

Additional recommended knowledge

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Resources Revived By Moore

Michael Moore's web site is a major resource of historical material from the eclectics and physiomedicalists, of hundreds of plant images and data as well as SWSBM teaching materials. Moore was a major contributor in the revival of many historical texts of botanical medicine which had been lost to the general public. In 1990 Moore visited the Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, in the basement, he found the accumulated libraries of all of the Eclectic medical schools, shipped off to the Eclectic Medical College as they closed. Finally, even the E.M.C. died (closed in 1939 leaving only the writings of a discipline of medicine that survived for a century, known for its vast plant materia medica, and a vitalist theory that treated the patient and NOT the pathology. The material he published from the eclectics, Thompsonian medicalists and physiomedicalists includes ^[3]:

• The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. The classic text from 1922

in an abridged form (botanicals only).

• American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy by Finley Ellingwood, M.D. The classic Eclectic medical text from 1919, by chapter and group or as an alphabetical botanical-only version.

• The Cascara Tree in British Columbia by John Davidson.

A 1942 British Columbian Government. publication discusses how to and not to harvest the overpicked Cascara Sagrada.

• Classic Works in Botanical medicine

Monographs and formularies on Eclectic Medicine, Naturopathy, Thomsonian Medicine, pharmacy, and pharmacognosy, which include John Uri Lloyd's Herb Drug pamphlets, Elixirs and Flavoring Extracts, Quantity Versus Quality, Otto Mausert's formulas and Samuel Thomson's 19th century classic "Guide To Health"

• Fyfe's Materia Medica

by John William Fyfe, M.D. (Eclectic Manual #6, 1903)

• The Essentials of Modern Materia Medica and Therapeutics

by John William Fyfe, M.D. (Eclectic Manual #6, 1903) New York physician, Fyfe bridged the gap between the charismatic Ellingwood and the careful and sometimes arcane Felter in this handbook, intended for the physician in practice

• A Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology,

by David M.R. Culbreth, Ph.G., M.D. (7th edition, 1927) A classic work, with over 300 illustrations, deals with ALL the medicinal plants that were, or had ever been, official drug plants in the history of the United States Pharmacopoeia and the National Formulary, up until the publication date in 1927.

• Lloyd Brothers Plant Drug Pamphlets (1897 to 1915). Pamphlets and folios on Aloes, Belladonna, Fringetree, Turkey Corn, Wild Yam, Gelsemium, Hydrastis, Alfalfa, Nux Vomica, Pomegranate Night-Blooming Cereus, Damiana, Colocynth, Copaiba, Croton Oil, Calabar Bean, Strophanthus

In the latter part of 2006, dealing with worsening chronic ill health, including serious renal and cardiac concerns, he required hospitalization for peritonitis, surgery, intensive care and rehabilitation as well as machine hemodialysis. In response the American Herbalist Guild Medical Trust Fund was specifically set up to provide a tax deductable donating mechanism for funding medical care of herbalists in need. Michael Moore was the first recipient of such funding.^[4]

Publications

BOOKS:

Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West (2nd Edition)

Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West

Los Remedios

Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West

Healing Herbs of the Upper Rio Grande (Edited and Revised)

Herbs for the Urinary Tract

SWSBM Clinical Manuals in hard copy

VIDEOS:

MEDICINAL PLANTS: in the field with MICHAEL MOORE

Volume 1. RIO GRANDE GORGE

Volume 2. THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES

SOFTWARE: Herbal Resource Guide for Windows or Mac

LECTURES ON CD:

Botanical Materia Medica course by Michael Moore

References

See also

• Eclectic medicine
• Herbalism
• Pharmacognosy
• Botany
• Ethnobotany