Thumbnails of Helfand Slide Talk - 16
Slide #16: The mandrake plant, Mandragora officinarum, has a fleshy forked root and was thought to resemble a living person. As such it enjoyed widespread usage in the past; Hippocartes, for example, suggested that small doses in wine would relieve depression and anxiety. Kermott's Mandrake Pills were to be used in headache, constipation, indigestion, liver complaint and to purify blood.