METHOD OF PREPARATION

Two methods are used to prepare these remedies. 
 

Sunshine method

A thin glass bowl is taken and almost filled with the purest water obtainable, if possible from a spring nearby. 
 
The blooms of the plant are picked and immediately floated on the surface of the water, so as to cover it, and then left in the bright sunshine for three or four hours, or less time if the blooms begin to show signs of fading. The blossoms are then carefully lifted out and the water poured into bottles so as to half fill them. The bottles are then filled up with brandy to preserve the remedy. These bottles are stock, and are not used direct for giving doses. A few drops are taken from these to another bottle, from which the patient is treated, so that the stocks contain a large supply. The supplies from the chemists should be used in the same way. 
 
The following remedies were prepared as above: 
 
Agrimony, Centaury, Cerato, Chicory, Clematis, Gentian, Gorse, Heather, Impatiens, Mimulus, Oak, Olive, Rock Rose, Rock Water, Scleranthus, the Wild Oat, Vervain, Vine, Water Violet, White Chestnut Blossom. 
 
Rock Water. It has long been known that certain wells and spring waters have had the power to heal some people, and such wells or springs have become renowned for this property. Any well or any spring which has been known to have had healing power and which is still left free in its natural state, unhampered by the shrines of man, may be used. 
 

The boiling method

The remaining remedies were prepared by boiling as follows: 
 
The specimens, as about to be described, were boiled for half an hour in clean pure water. 
 
The fluid strained off, poured into bottles until half filled, and then, when cold, brandy added as before to fill up and preserve. 
 
Chestnut Bud. For this remedy the buds are gathered from the White Chestnut tree, just before bursting into leaf. 
 
In others the blossom should be used together with small pieces of stem or stalk and, when present, young fresh leaves.