The term "eclectic" applies to a branch of medicine which makes use of herbal remedies.
The term was coined by Constantine Rafinesque (1784-1841), a doctor living amoung the Native Americans, and observing their use of medicinal plants.
He coined the word "eclectic" to refer to those physicians who adopted in practice whatever was found to be beneficial to their patients. The Eclectic Medical Institute was formed in the 1830s as an alternative to the conventional medicine of the time. By the 1850s, several American doctors, especially from the New York Academy of Medicine, had begun using herbal salves.
Eclectic medicine is still practiced today, but mainly by medical herbalists rather than physicians.
How diligently medicine was studied in the monasteries is shown by the numerous manuscripts (many still unedited) in the old cathedral libraries and by those which were taken from the suppressed monasteries and are now to be found in the national libraries of various countries.
Medicine, he says is a practical art and, therefore, may not be treated according to the same methods for the investigation of truth as philosophy.
The scientific endeavours for the reform of medicine are characterized by the activity of the translators, by the critical treatment and explanation of old authors, and by independent investigation especially in the field of botany.
History of alternative medicine is a record of historical events that took place over many thousands of years throughout the history of mankind that can be related to the many different branches of alternative medicine.
Traditional Chinese medicine has more than 5,000 years of history as a system of medicine that is based on a philosophical concept of balance (yin and yang, Qi, Blood, Jing, Bodily fluids, the Five Elements, the emotions, and the spirit) approach to health that is rooted in Taoist philosophy and Chinese culture.
Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine has more than 6,000 years of history as a system of medicine based on a holistic approach to health that is rooted in Vedic culture.
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