ABSTRACT
In entering relatively uncharted areas of scholarship, John Riddle’s two books, Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance (1992) and Eve’s Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West (1997), prompted polarized responses.1 Some reviews and commentaries have been highly skeptical, while others accepted Riddle’s general argument that widespread popular knowledge of effective contraceptive/abortifacient herbs, which existed prior to early modern times, was subsequently forgotten aside from lingering remnants in folklore. The diverse views (Box 10.1) about Riddle’s interpretation of data encouraged the discussion that follows; it is intended to prompt general reflections on therapeutics by considering (1) the differing opinions expressed in a nineteenth-century abortion trialone considered by Riddle-about two alleged emmenagogues/abortifacients, and (2) the uncertainty of therapeutic outcomes.
