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2. Place powder in a small bowl. If using more than one herb, blend them together at this stage.

3. Separate the two halves of the capsule, and hold the empty capsule bottom between the thumb and the forefinger.

4. Punch or press the capsule bottom vertically into the powder until it is filled.

5. Push capsule ends together and place in another bowl.

6. Continue this until all caps are full or all the powder is gone.

Dosage

People ordinarily take 2 “00” caps full of herb 2–3 times a day with water (1 “0” cap, 2–3 times a day for children).

Storage

Store in tightly sealed bottles in a cool, dark place. Herbs begin to deteriorate fairly rapidly after they have been powdered. However, when put into air-free capsules, they keep for a longer time, approximately 1 year.

Circumstances that modify the effects of medicines

While the effects of herbal remedies are generally much the same on people, there are conditions or circumstances which tend to modify their action. These factors create the environment that makes healing and herbal therapeutics more an art than a science. The modifying conditions and circumstances are: 1) age of the patient, 2) the patient’s sex, 3) weight, 4) temperament, 5) variations of temperature, 6) diseased tissue, 7) drug habit(s), 8) pregnancy, 9) menstruation, 10) idiosyncrasy, the peculiar susceptibility (or insusceptibility) of the tissues of certain persons to the influence of certain medicines, 11) placebo effect, the most profound, unpredictable, and potentially enlightening of all the modifying conditions.

CONCENTRATES

A simple method for increasing the potency of an infusion or decoction is to prepare a concentrate. (This process is not particularly suitable with sensitive or volatile plants.) In general, this is done best by using a large volume of tea, as it is easier to concentrate the brew without burning it. Concentrates are the common herbal base used to prepare syrups and fomentations. An easy method for preparing a concentrate is to place a strained and filtered infusion or decoction into a stainless steel or glass pot. Stick a chopstick straight down into the center of the liquid touching the bottom of the pot. Withdraw the stick and make a mark at the water line. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the flame and gently simmer the liquid, slowly evaporating the water portion until the surface of the liquid marks a point half as high on the chopstick as the original watermark. At this point, one-half the volume of the original liquid remains, rendering the concentrate double the potency of the original tea; when it marks a point one-quarter as high as the original watermark the concentrate is considered to be four times the strength of the original extract, and so on until the concentrate is transformed into a tar and ultimately into a powder. Be sure to use low heat over a long period of time or the concentrate will “burn” and its therapeutic potency will be trashed. One can also concentrate a tea by placing it in flat trays inserted in a dehydrator.

Siphoning Procedure

Pipette Guiding Rod

DECANTING

The simple process of decanting is used to separate fluids from solids. It usually consists of allowing the solids to settle and deposit at the bottom of the vessel, and then carefully pouring off the liquid by inclining the vessel. You can also use a food baster for drawing off the desired liquids. This is a most valuable technique for separating water and marc from oil when making fresh-plant oil infusions.

Siphoning. It is sometimes impossible to decant by pouring off the liquid, either because the holding vessel is too full or because of the light character of the precipitate (for example, with Usnea extract), the inclination of the vessel would cause a disturbance in the powder that would result in an admixture of the liquid and solid. A siphon can be helpful in a situation like this (see illustration). The best material to use for the siphon tube is flexible surgical tubing. Fill the tube with the liquid that is to be