Ulrich states that Martha “was fundamentally an herbalist”, while affirming Martha’s primary practice was through the use of herbs to make her patients feel better. As a result, Ulrich compares Martha’s diary to Nicholas Culpeper’s The Complete Herbal and to E. Smith’s The Compleat Housewife: OR, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion (Ulrich, 49-50). The connection begins when Martha documents in her diary about medical visits and her use of treatments for her patients. In one instance she made a bed by the fire and gave Theophilus Hamlin catnip tea when he felt ill (Ulrich, 50). This account revolves around her belief of herbs in curing patients of scarlet fever while her diary provides further information of all the herbs Martha gathers for
