Includes bibliographical references and index.

Front Matter -- Copyright Page -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Notes on Our Translation Methods -- Translated Text -- Text and Translation -- Etymology and Description of Saffron -- Attributes, and Species, of Saffron -- Native Place, and Time When [Saffron] Emerges and Flowers -- Cultivation of Saffron -- Selection of Saffron -- Properties of Saffron -- Uses of Preparations of Saffron -- Diseases of the Brain -- Diseases of the Eyes -- Diseases of the Ears -- Diseases of the Teeth and the Tongue -- Diseases of the Chest -- Diseases of the Heart -- Diseases of the Stomach -- Diseases of the Intestines -- Diseases of the Liver -- Diseases of the Spleen -- Diseases of the Kidney and Bladder -- Diseases of Women -- Fevers -- Diseases of the External Parts -- The Mechanical Uses of Saffron -- Questions Concerning Saffron -- Illustration of Different Kinds of Crocuses, and Explicative Table -- Back Matter -- Hertodt’s References -- Animadversion on Hertodt’s Crocologia by Wenzel Maximilian Ardensbach (1671) -- Glossary -- Crocologia, Our References -- Index.

"In Crocologia - A Detailed Study of Saffron, the King of Plants, Sally Francis and Maria Teresa Ramandi present the first translation into English of Johann Ferdinand Hertodt's seminal 1671 work Crocologia, a book uniquely devoted to the medical uses of saffron. Hertodt discusses saffron's origin, related species, cultivation, selection, properties and lists all its pharmaceutical preparations. Hertodt then journeys through diseases of the human body, presenting saffron-containing formulae for their treatment. The two authors complement the translation with a biography of Hertodt, and detail saffron's botany, current production, uses, its changing reputation as a drug, and review findings from new medical research. There is a full Glossary, and translation of a contemporary approbation of Crocologia by Hertodt's rival, Wenzel Maximilian Ardensbach"-- Provided by publisher.

Description based on print version record.