The first book provides a glimpse into the case notes of Robert T. Cooper, and pertains to his experience in treating cancer patients using what he termed "arborivital treatment". By this he meant prescribing a single dose of a plant mother tincture prepared from a fresh, living (vita = life) specimen. Cooper was of the opinion that living plants have an inherent curative action that does not require trituration or succession to bring it forth. In his introductory notes, Cooper draws an analogy between a seed which, in favourable soil will sprout, and grow into a plant, and the seed of cancer in a human being which, again, only in favourable conditions, will develop into a cancerous tumour. In using arborivital tinctures, Cooper suggests that it is possible to combat the "growth force' of a malignant tumour with the growth force of a suitable plant -- undoubtedly an ingenious variation on the principle of similars!.