Doctrine of signatures Health Dictionary

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Doctrine Of Signatures: From 1 Different Sources

It was believed by some ancient civilisations that the Creator has placed his seal on plants to indicate their medicinal use. Nicholas Culpeper was an outstanding advocate. The seeds of Skullcap (headache) resemble tiny skulls; Lungwort has white spotted leaves relative to the tubercula lung; Garlic, with its hollow stalk, relates to the windpipe; White Willow growing in damp places was believed good for rheumatic disorders (it was from the bark of this tree that aspirin was first isolated). Examples are numerous. It is a curiosity that many liver remedies have yellow flowers, those for the nerves (blue), for the spleen (orange), for the bones (white). Serpentaria (Rauwolfia) resembles a snake and is an old traditional remedy for snake-bite.

Herbalism confirms the Doctrine of Signatures but is not based on it. 

Health Source: Bartrams Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine
Author: Health Encyclopedia

Doctrine Of Double Effect

the principle that, where it is foreseen that a single action will have both a good and a bad outcome, a person may perform such an action provided that (a) he or she intends only the positive outcome, (b) the bad outcome is not disproportionate to the good, and (c) the good outcome is not a direct consequence of the bad. The classic example occurs where a terminally ill patient requires high doses of opiates for pain relief that may also depress respiratory function and hasten his or her death. In such a case the law holds that the doctor may supply the necessary dosage without this being considered tantamount to *euthanasia, even though the outcome will be the same, i.e. the morality of the action does not lie in its consequences (see consequentialism).... doctrine of double effect

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