The book is called "The book of herbs" and is by Dorothy Hall. This book was published in the 1970s, so if you are seeking it you may only find it used.
In this book, the author suggests that you can improve your eye sight by "boiling fennel leaves in water until the water is reduced by half" and applying this to the eyes every day when it's cool. She lists no exact qualities because she says these aren't necessary. The body will use what it needs and discard the rest.
She also suggests drinking fennel tea to keep slim. Maybe people are confusing fennel with fenugreek which would explain several recent comments about people gaining weight while taking fenugreek.
My question is, has anyone tried these remedies? I know that fennel is good for digestion, but for weight loss and eye sight too?
Replied By Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 08/26/2008
Hello To the one with the fennel/herb efficacy question: Your question on fennel cannot be answered until you can identify what the author of that herb book is calling fennel! Is it that common weed with a distinctive odor that we southerners frequently call dog fennel. Our inability to answer this question is why I recommend that everyone buy themselves l or more good herb books and another good reference book for identifying these so-called "weeds" that usually are wonderful herbs. How many of them can you identify beyond the dandelion? You never know when you might be reduced to gathering and preparing those herbs for your own use, so you should become familiar with those in your area. You should also have a good reference book about what local plants are safe to gather and eat. Most bookstores stock some good reference books in this area. If you aren't familiar with him, James Duke's book, "The Green Pharmacy" is based on the information he gathered before retiring from federal employment, which can be found in the Federal Government's data base on plants, not only on the plants in N.A. but plants from other countries also. I suggest that you concentrate on your local plants because if you find yourself in a position of needing this information, you aren't likely to be able to order "cat's claw" from South America or anywhere else at that time.Replied By Sindee (Carlsbad, Ca) on 10/20/2011
This is an East Indian spice that we drink in our tea concoction once a day for maintaining good digestion. Also helps with bad breath and a few other ailments.