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                           WHAT IS HERBAGE?
                     Copyright 1995 by Tim Johnson
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Authors Note: This file should be viewed using a fixed-width font - or
in a DOS text editor.


Herbage v2.0 for Windows is a Botanical Information System (BIS) - an
application that is specifically designed for keeping track and
manipulating  the very large amount of botanical (plant) information
necessary in the  fields of herbalism, ethnobotany, pharmacology,
forestry, agriculture and  general botany.

Herbage v2.0 for Windows is a Windows interface that allows the user
to  add, modify, sort, search & replace, and export a subset of data
to the  printer as a fully-formatted illustrated report.

The Herbage database is the name of the library of ethnobotanical
information that is provided with every copy of of Herbage v2.0 for
Windows. Of the more than 2600 plant species included, each entry
includes one or more of the following: common names, medicinal action,
ailments the plant is used to treat, indigenous use, mail-order
source, range,  habitat, alkaloid and nutrient content, and public-
domain illustrations. The  information in this library was assembled
over a three year period from  books and online sources. The printout
of this library is sold in book form  by Overmind Software (copyright
1995 by Tim Johnson).

Users of Herbage v2.0 for Windows are free to distribute printouts of
ten  pages or less from the Herbage library as long as they don't
charge money  for it.

The Herbage library can be removed from the Herbage v2.0 for Windows
interface, and other third-party libraries can be added. The user can
also  create their own library, or work with multiple libraries at one
time. The  process of adding or removing libraries, which are stored
as a text file with  an ".HL" extension, is very similar to opening
and closing a document with  a word processor.


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The Main Table - Where Plant Data Is Stored
-------------------------------------------

Herbage v2.0 for Windows accesses data from three data tables. The
Main  table is where all the plant data is stored, and looks like
this:

=========================================================================
PLANT               TYPE               PROPERTY       COMMENTS    LIBRARY

Ananas comosus                                        Memo        herbage
Ananas comosus      action             digestive      memo        herbage
Ananas comosus      common name        pineapple      memo        herbage
Ananas comosus      contains           bromelin       memo        herbage
Ananas comosus      contains           vitamin C      memo        herbage
Ananas comosus      mail-order source  fch            memo        herbage
Ananas comosus      used to treat      indigestion    memo        herbage
Anemone pulsatilla  common name        pulsatilla     memo        herbage
Anemone pulsatilla  common name        wind flower    memo        herbage
Anemone pulsatilla  range              europe         memo        herbage
Anemone pulsatilla  used to treat      nervous spasms memo        herbage
=========================================================================

The capital "M" in the first line of the Comments column means that
there  is some text in the comments field. If you move the mouse
pointer to where  it says "Memo" and double-click on it, you would see
the following:

===================================================================
Contains the enzyme bromelin, which is an aid to digestion.
===================================================================

The length of a selection you can add to the Comments field is only
limited  to the amount of hard disk space you have, so you could store
many pages  worth of Comments here about each plant.

Each line of the Main table is called a "record". Records can be
sorted  either by plant name, as shown above, or by property, as shown
here:

=========================================================================
PLANT                    TYPE          PROPERTY       COMMENTS    LIBRARY

Ananas comosus           action        digestive      memo        herbage
Aristolochia serpentaria action        digestive      memo        herbage
Artemisia dracunculus    action        digestive      memo        herbage
Bellis perennis          action        digestive      memo        herbage
Agave americana action   action        digestive      memo        herbage
Vaccinfum vitis idaea    action        digestive      memo        herbage
Achillea millefolium     action        digestive      memo        herbage
Adonis vernalis          action        digestive      memo        herbage
=========================================================================


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The Property Table - Where Defintions are Stored
------------------------------------------------

The Property table looks like this:

======================================================================
TYPE            PROPERTY        DEFINITION      LIBRARY

action          digestive       Memo            herbage
action          disinifectant   Memo            herbage
action          diuretic        Memo            herbage
action          emetic          Memo            herbage
======================================================================

The "Memo" you see in the Defintion field works the same way as the
"Memo" in the Comments field in the Main table - you double-click on
it to see the  contents of the field. If you double-click on the
"Memo" for the "digestive" record, you would see the following:

=========================================================================
Aids digestion.
=========================================================================

If you double-click on the "Memo" in the "disinfectant" record, you
would  see the following:

=========================================================================
Disinfects by destroying, neutralizing, or inhibiting the growth of
disease-carrying microorganisms.
=========================================================================


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The Picture Table
-----------------

The third data table is called Picture, and this is where a picture of each
plant can be stored. This table is structured like this:

=========================================================================
PLANT                   PICTURE

Ananas comosus          Gen
Apium graveolens        Gen
Areca catechu           gen
=========================================================================

Once again, the capital letter means that there is something in the
field that  can be viewed by double-clicking with the mouse - but in
this case, it is a  "Gen" type of field instead of a "Memo" type
field. A "Gen" field is used  for storing pictures, so when you
double-click on the "Gen" in the "Ananas  comosus" record, you see a
picture of a pineapple:

=========================================================================
(PICTURE OF A PINEAPPLE)
=========================================================================

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The Export Table - A Data Assembly Area
---------------------------------------

Before making a printout from Herbage v2.0, you must first inform the
system what plants or properties you are interested in seeing in the
printout.  This can be done in a variety of ways. The first thing to
keep in mind is that  all the output from this system comes from a
table called Export. The  structure of this table looks like this:

=========================================================================
PLANT                   TEXT

Ananas comosus          Memo
=========================================================================

When Herbage v2.0 is first installed, this table is empty. It is up to
you to  decide what information you want in the table, so only the
information you  choose will appear in the printouts. To add "Ananas
comosus", as shown  above, you would choose to view the Main table,
then scroll through the  table until you found "Ananas comosus" (or
use the "search" function to go  directly to it). You would then
select the EXPORT function from the MAIN  menu, BY PLANT, either WITH
DEFINITIONS, or NO DEFINITIONS. All of these  words in capital letters
are "menu items". The "menu" is at the top of  the screen of any
windows application. The menu in Herbage v2.0 is  the way that you
tell the system what you want it to do.

If you have selected one of the entries for "Ananas comosus" in the
Main  table, then select the following menu item sequence:

main - export - by plant - no definitions

you would notice that the Export table now has an item in it called
"Ananas  comosus". If you double-click on the Memo field in the Text
column, you  would see the following:

=========================================================================
ANANAS COMOSUS - Contains the enzyme bromelin, which is an aid
to digestion. - action: digestive - common name: pineapple - contains:
bromelin, vitamin C - mail-order source: fch - used to treat: indigestion
=========================================================================

If you were to make a printout of the contents of the Export table,
you  would find that it includes a picture of a pineapple. If you
chose the  following menu sequence:

export - print preview - ok

you would see:

=========================================================================
(PICTURE OF A PINEAPPLE)

ANANAS COMOSUS - Contains the enzyme bromelin, which is an aid
to digestion. - action: digestive - common name: pineapple - contains:
bromelin, vitamin C - mail-order source: fch - used to treat: indigestion
=========================================================================

You can also add definitions to your printouts by specifying this from
the  main menu. If you select (click on) one of the "Ananas comosus"
records in  the Main table, then choose the menu squence:

main - export - plant - with definitions

you would end up with the following in the Export table:

=========================================================================
ANANAS COMOSUS - Contains the enzyme bromelin, which is an aid
to digestion. - action: digestive [Aids digestion] - common name:
pineapple - contains: bromelin [a digestive enzyme], vitamin C [A
white, crystalline vitamin, C6H8O6, found in citrus fruits, tomatoes,
potatoes, and leafy green vegetables and used to prevent scurvy. Also
called ascorbic acid.]  - mail-order source: fch [Frontier Cooperative
Herbs; 3021 78th St.; P.O. Box 118; Norway, IA  52318-0118]  - used to
treat: indigestion [Inability to digest or difficulty in digesting
something, especially food.]
=========================================================================

When you specify that you want definitions, Herbage v2.0 checks the
Property table and adds defintions wherever it can find them.

Exporting a property works much the same way exporting a plant, but
you  get multiple plants sent to the Export table - every plant that
shares the  property you have currently selected. So if you selected
the record in the  Main table:

=========================================================================
Ananas comosus      action          digestive       memo          herbage
=========================================================================

and then chose the menu sequence:

main - export - property - no definition

Herbage v2.0 would search the entire database for every plant that is a
digestive, and would send all those plants to the Export table.

If you selected the record from the Main table:

=========================================================================
Ananas comosus      contains        vitamin C       memo          herbage
=========================================================================

and then chose the same menu sequence, Herbage v2.0 would search the
database from all the plants that contain vitamin C, and would then
send  them, with no definitions, to the Export table, so that they
could be printed  out all together.

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The Library Table
-----------------

The library table looks like this:

=========================================================================
LIBRARY         COMMENTS

herbage         Memo
user            memo
=========================================================================

Double-click on "Memo" in the first line, and you will see:

=========================================================================
Herbage - Second Edition
Copyright 1995 by Timothy Richard Nikolaas John Van Raaphorst
Johnson
All Rights Reserved

published in the United States of America by:

Overmind Software
1388 Haight St. #161
San Francisco, CA  94117

Sources:

Abraitys, Vincent. Wayside Simples and Grateful Herbs. Frenchtown,
N.J.: Culmbia Pub. Co., 1980
Bremness, Lesley. Herbs. London, England: Dorling Kindersley Pub.
Co., 1994
Cullum, Elizabeth. A Cottage Herbal. North Pomfret, VT: David and
Charles, 1975
Gabriel, Ingrid. Herb Identifier and Handbook. New York: Sterling
Publishing Company, Inc., 1979
Gordon, Lesley. A Country Herbal. New York: Mayflower Books, 1980
Grime, William Ed. Ethno-botany of the Black Americans. Alogonac,
MI: Reference Publications, 1979
Herer, Jack. The Emperor Wears No Clothes. Van Nuys: HEMP
Publishing, 1990
Hicks, Sam. Desert Plants and People. San Antonio, TX: The Naylor
Company, 1971
Hooper, Madge. Herbs and Medicinal Plants. New York: Arco Pub.,
1986
Hutchens, Alma R. Indian Herbalogy of North America. Boston:
Shambhala, 1973
Krochmal, Arnold and Connie. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. New
York: The New York Times Book Co., 1984
Lust, John B. The Herb Book by John Lust. New York: B. Lust
Publications, 1974
McKenna, Terence. Foods of the Gods. New York: Bantam Books, 1992
Mitchell, Faith. Hoodoo Medicine: Sea Islands Herbal Remedies. Reed,
Cannon and Johnson Co., 1978
Muenscher, Walter Conrad Leopold. Garden Spice and Wild Pot-
herbs: An American Herbal. Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Pub. Associates,
1978
Murphey, Edith Van Allen. Indian Uses of Native Plants. Ft. Bragg,
CA: Mendocino County Historical Society, 1959
Perry, Frances and Hay, Roy. A Field Guide to Tropical and
Subtropical Plants. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1982
Rose, Jeanne. Herbs and Things (Jeanne Rose's Herbal). New York,
Grosset and Dunlap, 1972
Schultes, Richard Evans Schultes and Hoffman, Albert. Plants of the
Gods. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1992
Schultes, Richard Evans. Hallucinogenic Plants. New York: Golden
Press, 1976
Stafford, Peter. Psychedelics Encyclopedia. Berkeley, CA: Ronin
Publishing, 1992
Sturtevant, Edward Lewis. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World.
Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon Co., 1919
Whistler, W. Arthur. Tongan Herbal Medicine. Honolulu, HI: Isle
Botanica, 1992

On-Line Sources:

- Documents stored in the SunSite Education / Medicine / Alternative /
Herbs directory, which includes the Southwest School of Botanical
Medicine
- The Hyperreal server
- The Kew Botanical Gardens server
- The Australian Botanical Gardens server
- Compuserve: GO HOLIST - Herbs/Plants library, GO GARDEN -
Herbs/Mushrooms library, GO NEWBAG - Alternative Health library,
GO COOKS - Herbs and Spices library
=========================================================================

The library table is where you can store background information about
the  different libraries that are currently being used by Herbage v2.0
for  Windows. You can add your own libraries, and every new piece of
data that  you add to either the Main or Property tables will be
marked as part of the  library that is currently selected in the
library table. Libraries can be  saved as an ".HL" file, transferred
via e-mail, and loaded into another  copy of Herbage v2.0 for Windows.

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Ordering Information
--------------------

Herbage v2.0 for Windows, which comes with the Herbage library of 2600
species, and 140 public-domain botanical illustrations, is available from:

Overmind Software
1388 Haight St., #161
San Francisco, CA  94117
U.S.A.

The cost is $89.00

System requirements: 486 or faster, 6 megs RAM, 21 megs HD space

The book:
Herbage: by Tim Johnson
which has all the data and illustrations from the database,
is also available from Overmind Software for $30.00

The book and the software are sold together for $100.00
Ask for "Herbage Complete"

Send checks in US$. California residents add 8.5% sales tax. Foreign orders
add $5 for shipping and handling.

All software orders postmarked before Oct. 31, 1995
will receive a $23.00 discount

Inquire via e-mail about credit card payment - we will be adding this
service soon!

e-mail address:
  74557.3134@compuserve.com     or     overmind@hooked.net

The Overmind Home Page:
  http://www.hooked.net/users/overmind/index.html

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