"Worm grass", "Fever grass", "Christmas bush" are terms with which you are probably quite familiar. At one time or another you may have taken "bush medicine". Yet your doctor probably never recommended "bush medicine" for you. Is it because doctors are not sure what they are good for?

Many people are sure that "bush medicines" do work. However, not many scientific studies have been done on "bush medicine". Dr. Compton Seaforth is one of he few local scientists who has done such studies. He and two colleagues have written a book entitled A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Seaforth started his research in Jamaica. Such research is very useful. It can help medical persons understand the value of "bush medicine". It can also help those who use "bush medicines" to understand them better.

Dr. Seaforth was born in Georgetown, Guyana, July 1935. It was then called British Guiana. He was the eldest of six children. He was educated at St. George's Anglican Primary School. Later, he attended Queen's College in Georgetown. There he won an Open Scholarship. In 1954, he entered the UWI, Mona, Jamaica. There he obtained his B.Sc. Afterwards he went to Wales where he got his Ph.D. In 1959 he returned to Georgetown where he worked as an Agricultural Chemist. He then spent a year in Nigeria.

He wanted, however, to live and work in the Caribbean. In 1963 he got a job in the Department of Chemistry, UWI, St. Augustine. He became a citizen of this country in 1979. He is the father of three children.

Dr. Seaforth is truly a Caribbean scientist. His work is particularly important to Trinidad and Tobago, and the region.

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