Mrs. J.M.C. Kloppenburg-Versteegh (1862-1948)

Indische planten en haar geneeskracht

(Indigenous plants and their healing powers)

Indigenous plants and their healing powers was first published in 1907. The book was an immediate sucess: a second print appeared within a few months. This was not to be last. In 1983 publication was made of the Bahasa Indonesian version: Petunjuk Lengkap Mengenai Tanam-Tanaman di Indonesia. Dan khasiatnya sebagai obat-obatan tradisionil. Jilid II Bagian medis. This was followed in 1998 by Petunjuk Lengkap Mengenai Tanam-Tanaman di Indonesia. Dan khasiatnya mya sebagai obat-obatan tradisionil. Jilid I Bagian Botani. In the present day the book is better known under the titel Wenken en raadgevingen (Hints and advice)

Each edition had the same objective and this was clearly defined by Mrs.Kloppenburg in the first edition;

"Respected readers, My aim in writing this book is to draw attention to the truly numerous valuable plants and roots of which most are merely regarded as weeds. Indigenous medicines have been long used but the method and application, equally the names of the plants used, has remained for the greater part a secret; research has been virtually impossible as the biological and herbal knowledge has often been lost with the deaths of those possessing the knowledge.
As far as it has been within my capability to do so I have documented all that has been made available to me. There are, undoubtably, many plants unknown to both myself and those of greater learning and for this reason I may not regard this book in any way as being definitive. The process of time will most certainly bring many new discoveries to light. It is my sincere hoop that later revisions of this book will be published with many new preparations derived from valuable plants."

As is clearly indicated by her own words this book was for the greater part a result of individual study. Without doubt the practical lessons learnt at her mother's, Mrs. Albertina van Spreeuwenburg, side were invaluable to Mrs. Kloppenburg. Others, such as the Semarang pharmacist H.F. Tillema who had an advisory role in the frameworking of the book, stood by Mrs. Kloppenburg in word and deed.

Indische planten en haar geneeskracht was assembled within a logical framework. Following on from the introduction the book progressed with a number of chapters such as 'Caring for the hair', 'Caring for the skin', 'Treatment for stomach ailments' and a disease called 'Indische Spruw'. In the chapter 'Medicinal Plants' Mrs. Kloppenburg went on to describe the characteristics of a great number of medicinal plants and herbs. Frequently she detailed the 'recipe' (in other words the method of prepartion) and added the number with which the relevant plant was shown in the plant atlas.

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