Highlight the role and importance of ethnomedicine in overcoming disease and pain. The vital role of traditional healers in a rural set up like the village priest, the herbalist and the spiritist has been stressed. Contains specific chapters on The History of Medicine; Medical Practitioners and Social Anthropology; The Dhimars: Socio-cultural Environment; and the Medical set up. Reviews ... will certainly provoke practitioners’ thought, as to what and how he should act in future. Dr. A. Kathiresan, Review Projector (India), Vol. 8, No. 7–9. ... highlights the role and importance of ethnomedicine in overcoming disease and pain. ... useful for those associated with rural development in the sphere of health and planners, in determining and devising appropriate schemes for healthcare for the rural people. Dr. (Mrs) Madhu Nagla, Department of Sociology, MD University, Rohtak, Indian Book Chronicle, April 1993.