What do you think?
Rate this book
The Practice of Aromatherapy: A Classic Compendium of Plant Medicines and Their Healing Properties
This classic manual provides detailed evidence for the efficacy of plant medicine. Valnet effectively bridgesthe gap between the tradition of healing with herbs and the advances of modern medicine, showing, in scientific terms, why plant medicine works, and making an impassioned plea for curtailing our use of dangerous chemical therapies.
- GenresHealthNonfiction
280 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1982
26 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
Jean Valnet
21 books7 followersAs a military doctor, a surgeon, a convinced humanist and a lover of Nature, Doctor Jean Valnet devoted his life to what he called "the medicine of total man."
Convinced of the benefits of medicinal plants, he was the first to study the therapeutic virtues of essential oils clinically and developed an unprecedented knowledge of aromatherapy. He is considered one of the architects or even founding father of the development of modern phyto-aromatherapy.
Convinced of the benefits of medicinal plants, he was the first to study the therapeutic virtues of essential oils clinically and developed an unprecedented knowledge of aromatherapy. He is considered one of the architects or even founding father of the development of modern phyto-aromatherapy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 31, 2023
Month of September 2022: Essential Oils (Health)
“The Practice of Aromatherapy: A Classic Compendium of Plant Medicines & Their Healing Properties” by (1964 in France; 1982 in English; 1990 edition) 279 pages. Gave away to Goodwill. I got what I wanted to know written down below.
This book is considered a classic among aromatherapy books. It provides a segue, in very scientific terms, and at times very hard to understand, from many early, traditional cures and use of plant essences (essential oils) compared to modern use of synthetic pharmaceuticals up until the publication of this book, 1964. It is mainly focused on early research of 1930’s through early part of 1960’s, with the first book on essential oils, Aromathérapie”, published in 1937 by René-Maurice Gattefossé.
The author doesn’t discount the most ridiculous sounding cures that have worked in the past just because we don’t know how or why something worked. If it worked and cured an affliction, he felt it should be recorded and counted.
This is not a fun read at all, but it did answer my one question about aromatherapy, in particular, about diffusing essential oils in a diffuser to purify the air: Does it REALLY work?
And here’s the answer…
On January 7, 1963, Professor Griffin (Director of the French Police Toxicology Lab and member of the Academy of Pharmacy and of the Higher Council for Hygiene in Paris) studied the antiseptic effect of the air when a blended essence of oils was sprayed into the air. He used a blend of pine, thyme, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, cloves and cinnamon essential oils.
Griffin put Petri dishes in a room, out in the open for 24 hours, before spraying the room with the essential oil blend and allowed whatever organisms were in the air to fall and settle on the Petri dishes. The germs were then counted. A total of 210 colonies of microscopic flora were recorded, of which 12 were molds and 8 were staphylococci.
He then sprayed the room, and after 15 minutes, the open dishes showed only 14 colonies with 4 molds and no staphylococci; after 30 minutes the dishes had only 4 colonies and no mold and no staphylococci.
The air was considerably disinfected, which goes to show that essential oils should definitely be practiced and diffused in sick rooms, or even as a preventative, as long as you know no one has any sensitivities to any components of the essential oils. Otherwise, use a small heated lamp that will heat the oil and allow the essence to escape naturally. (p. 37)
The author used a couple of drops of each: thyme, lavender, pine and eucalyptus essential oils, on a daily basis in a heated lamp with a crucible above it. (p. 38) NOTE: Where can I find one of these?
This book is divided up, and not into this particular order, into a bit of history on the essence of plants, some case histories (which I didn’t find very interesting or useful because the stories were so general), and an assortment of indexes that take up a huge portion of the book.
If you want to know what a particular oil is used for and a few basic ways to use it, then go to the alphabetical listing of oils. Here, he has provided a few different methods of use for each oil and a few recipes for each, but they are all in grams, and they aren’t very specific. Note that not all essential oils we are using today are included in the authors list.
Then there is a therapeutic index. You can do a reverse search. Find your health problem and you’ll find a list of oils you can use.
There is an oils property index. For example, if you are looking for an anti-inflammatory, then go to the word anti-inflammatory, and a list of oils would be provided for you to choose from.
“The Practice of Aromatherapy: A Classic Compendium of Plant Medicines & Their Healing Properties” by (1964 in France; 1982 in English; 1990 edition) 279 pages. Gave away to Goodwill. I got what I wanted to know written down below.
This book is considered a classic among aromatherapy books. It provides a segue, in very scientific terms, and at times very hard to understand, from many early, traditional cures and use of plant essences (essential oils) compared to modern use of synthetic pharmaceuticals up until the publication of this book, 1964. It is mainly focused on early research of 1930’s through early part of 1960’s, with the first book on essential oils, Aromathérapie”, published in 1937 by René-Maurice Gattefossé.
The author doesn’t discount the most ridiculous sounding cures that have worked in the past just because we don’t know how or why something worked. If it worked and cured an affliction, he felt it should be recorded and counted.
This is not a fun read at all, but it did answer my one question about aromatherapy, in particular, about diffusing essential oils in a diffuser to purify the air: Does it REALLY work?
And here’s the answer…
On January 7, 1963, Professor Griffin (Director of the French Police Toxicology Lab and member of the Academy of Pharmacy and of the Higher Council for Hygiene in Paris) studied the antiseptic effect of the air when a blended essence of oils was sprayed into the air. He used a blend of pine, thyme, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, cloves and cinnamon essential oils.
Griffin put Petri dishes in a room, out in the open for 24 hours, before spraying the room with the essential oil blend and allowed whatever organisms were in the air to fall and settle on the Petri dishes. The germs were then counted. A total of 210 colonies of microscopic flora were recorded, of which 12 were molds and 8 were staphylococci.
He then sprayed the room, and after 15 minutes, the open dishes showed only 14 colonies with 4 molds and no staphylococci; after 30 minutes the dishes had only 4 colonies and no mold and no staphylococci.
The air was considerably disinfected, which goes to show that essential oils should definitely be practiced and diffused in sick rooms, or even as a preventative, as long as you know no one has any sensitivities to any components of the essential oils. Otherwise, use a small heated lamp that will heat the oil and allow the essence to escape naturally. (p. 37)
The author used a couple of drops of each: thyme, lavender, pine and eucalyptus essential oils, on a daily basis in a heated lamp with a crucible above it. (p. 38) NOTE: Where can I find one of these?
This book is divided up, and not into this particular order, into a bit of history on the essence of plants, some case histories (which I didn’t find very interesting or useful because the stories were so general), and an assortment of indexes that take up a huge portion of the book.
If you want to know what a particular oil is used for and a few basic ways to use it, then go to the alphabetical listing of oils. Here, he has provided a few different methods of use for each oil and a few recipes for each, but they are all in grams, and they aren’t very specific. Note that not all essential oils we are using today are included in the authors list.
Then there is a therapeutic index. You can do a reverse search. Find your health problem and you’ll find a list of oils you can use.
There is an oils property index. For example, if you are looking for an anti-inflammatory, then go to the word anti-inflammatory, and a list of oils would be provided for you to choose from.
May 4, 2024
Excellent reference with really sound science behind some of the medicinal properties of plant constituents.
March 18, 2017
A classic in the field. Better for those with some experience in aromatherapy.
April 12, 2025
Title in German:
Aromatherapie
Aromatherapie
November 10, 2012
edition d'Avril 1997
December 26, 2013
A great book for beginners! I enjoyed reading the research, but hate all the references to animal testing.
April 29, 2014
Very informational but highly technical.
August 13, 2016
Average
Written in British terms, it's not always easy to understand. Case studies don't share specifics. I didn't read every word.
Written in British terms, it's not always easy to understand. Case studies don't share specifics. I didn't read every word.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews