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["Kieran &/or Donna" <holycow@frontiernet.net>]

Years ago I read a blurb on germanium as a mineral supplement, and it said that the "herbal hall of fame" consisted of herbs that concentrate germanium.  That included ginseng and Lycium.  There was some mention of someone who claimed her youthful appearance was due to eating a daily handful of lycium berries soaked in wine.  I have tried it, they are good that way.  The seeds are the part that contain the germanium, so I try to chew them up.  Lycium are considered a general tonic in chinese medicine, and are included in the usual chicken soup formula to make you better if you are sick or under the weather.  We just had some when we caught the flu a couple weeks back, and it did make me feel better every time I ate a bowlful.  My idea was to make "jewish penicillin" only with chinese herbs as well, and I had the packet on hand.  Also had some "fuzzy gourd" aka "wax melon" I'd bought from a Thai woman who said it was used for fevers.  It had kept very nicely from back in the summer.  Lycium are found in many formulas for chinese herbal medicines.  We had a friend who took a prescription for my husband that was written in Chinese, sent it to her supplier in California who translated it, then she sat down with her book and substituted a few herbs that she happened to have for some that did the same kind of thing but she didn't have them on hand.  Anyway, a week or so of drinking that tea finally ended a bad case of "Farmer's lung" that my husband had had for about 8 months.  Lycium of course was in it, along with jujube, which is supposed to help with any medicinal formula.  It's sort of a carrier I think you might say, it generally supports health and makes other herbs work better.  Donna