Ayurvedic Drugs and their Plant Sources. 1994. 262 figs. XV,570 p. gr8vo. Cloth.

A wholesome and uniform "Materia Medica" has been a fond dream, but anelusive goal, for men of Ayurveda since long, largely due to thewidespread disagreement over the choice of herbal sources of variousdrugs and also due to the persistent indifference of practitionerstowards this problem. Even those people who are highly concerned aboutthe rot, have been groping in the dark as to the ways and means ofgetting out of the present quagmire. It should, however, be obvious,even to the most naive among men of Ayurveda that such a unified MateriaMedica is not going to be served to them on a platter and that they haveto strive heard to realise this cherished goal. Also, it should be keptin mind that in countries with various cultures, traditions and different flora and fauna, this is something which cannot be imposed byan ombudsman agency. On the contrary, efforts for this objective have tostart from the grass-root level. The foremost requirement is to compilea state-of-art report on this matter for the entire country. This shouldserve as a basis for further careful comparative studies, which wouldfinally help in arriving at the right choice. Such an intensive surveyand reinvestigation demands the active involvement of local teams including both men of Ayurveda and botanists.