Flutterby™! :

From danlyke@flutterby.com Tue Jan 18 12:03:49 2000 Received: by toohey.flutterby.com; Tue, 18 Jan 2000 12:03:49 -0800 Received: by francon.flutterby.com; Tue, 18 Jan 2000 10:44:43 -0800 Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 10:44:43 -0800 (PST) From: Dan Lyke <danlyke@flutterby.com> To: dl-quickies@flutterby.com Message-ID: <pine.LNX.4.10.10001181030230.25971-100000@francon.flutterby.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I've been talking with Charlene a lot about placebos and homeopathy and whatnot, and then yesterday had an interesting discussion: A friend, who shall remain nameless, was in another part of the country, and on the recommendation of an acquaintance went to an alternative healer to talk about some muscle and joint aches he's been having. The healer diagnosed him however that particular healer does, and recommended some expensive concoction made from some obscure root, which "is very popular in Chinese medicine". Looking at the ingredients list, and being familiar with procuring fresh Chinese ingredients for food, the friend decided that he could purchase said concoction more cheaply back in the bay area, so paid the healer, got a small bottle from which to work as a reference, and returned. Back in the bay area, he went from shop to shop, finding variants, until he walked into that one shop with the incense smoke and the ancient man sorting bottles behind the counter, and sure enough, the man had both the root, and tinctures made from the root. Figuring that he wouldn't get closer to the source of authentic information, my friend asked, with the aid of an interpreter, what the function of this root was. Apparently he's been drinking hair tonic for his joint problems. Beware Chinese medicine as dispensed by Caucasians.