"Natural" treatments and home remedies

Abstract

[Extract] LittIe is known about natural ectoparasite preparations used before the written word, however it is assumed that traditional, cultural approaches represent this oral lore. Written testimony to natural insecticides began in the first century AD when the Roman philosopher, Pliny the Elder, recorded known pest control methods. During the same period, the Chinese became avid users of powdered chrysanthemum, the forerunner of modern synthetic pyrethroid insecticides.