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In popular mythology, wearing a garlic wreath is a good defense against vampires. Silver kills werewolves.
But why? How could garlic, a spice whose only offense is plain stink, deter an attractive man with a seriously unhealthy diet, as opposed to more potent spices like pepper or azalea? Why does silver kill a canine-like hominid whereas lead and mercury are known to be more deadly metals?
For why silver kills werewolves, I'm pretty sure the original idea had to do with the magical associations of the metal - silver was for the moon, with associations of water, transformation, and purity, just like gold was for the sun. Given the moon plays a big part in a lot of werewolf legends (and given that these stories were based on magical worldviews), the magical associations would make silver a vulnerability in the stories they were telling. Silver was believed to purify, especially used to fight off or prevent infections - and the werewolf of legend seems to follow the same pattern, so they applied the same logic to the legends.
It also served the purpose of being a) valuable, so it took knowledge, effort, and expense to kill off the mythical monster, for appropriate drama, and b) reasonable as a weapon (as opposed to, say, gold which would have sun-connotations but probably would have been seen as too soft for weapons)
As for garlic and vampires, I think both Fayth85 and Rhubis covered garlic being historically associated with cleaning the blood, and given a lot of credit for being potently medicinal, even supernaturally so, supposedly treating a lot of different ailments.
It may be additionally relevant, that it was originally the garlic flowers, not the bulbs, which were repellent to vampires. That might draw from older symbolism of flowers being used to ward off death and cover up the scent of decay. Flowers and herbs were used to sweeten the air during plagues, some believed it would ward off illnesses that they vaguely believed were airborne, and could infect people via the stench of the infected. Breathing sweet air, which was believed to be good for health, was more often "achieved" by trying to cover up odors, rather than remove their source and achieve "clean" air - so sickrooms would be scented with flowers, incense, and all sorts of nonsense that probably made people worse.
Beyond that, there is a long history in magic of using herbs and flowers, for protection purposes. The garlic flower was not only associated with garlic's claims for cleaning the blood, it was itself also used as an (effective) insect repellent, warding off mosquitoes... which were bloodsuckers, and might (like spirits) come in the night to feed, and leave the victims suffering (the link notes the similarities between malaria and the depictions of vampire victims). It also might be worth noting that other herbs and flowers were also supposed to ward off vampires, including the wild rose, and hawthorn - garlic just became more popular, perhaps because of the myth crossing between the flower and bulb (which had its own mythology).
Historically garlic has always been used to cure many blood ailments, current medicine shows that it isn't actually very good at this though. Many species in the same family as garlic are poisonous to dogs and cats. If a vampire had better senses than a human then garlic and onions would work like pepper spray and be very unpleasant.
Silver kills bacteria and has been used in medicine for a long time. It kills bacteria by bonding to proteins to stop them folding correctly... apparently. I cant think of how this would work on a large creature.
Well, you have to look at the historical reasonings. Seeing as most of these myths and mythical beings are from an utterly different time than what we live in, you need to see them in context.
Vampires with silver and garlic.
As for werewolves? Well that is heavily dependent on the variant of werewolf. The Loup-Garou did have this weakness (silver), but it was more a way to troll the poor. After all, the Loup-Garou was almost always a lower class citizen. So the 'rich' would 'kill them with silver', symbolically silencing the poor with money.
You need to look at the 'monster' in the context of the days it was written in, and consider the intended audience. After all, in those days books weren't written for the 'poor' -- the poor were almost always illiterate.
K...we'll try this from a semi-science point of view with bacteria. If our Werewolves and vampires were dependent on a certain bacteria, then these two substances could have a real use.
Borrowing a piece of Rhubis's answer, silver bonds with bacteria preventing the proteins of the bacteria from folding correctly. The active ingredient in Garlic is known as Allicin, which has proven anti-bacterial properties, killing many different bacteria species (I'm not entirely sure on this Allicin, but there's a lot of information online on its anti-bacterial ways).
If, for whatever reason, the Vampires and Werewolves were dependent on penicillin resistant bacteria for regeneration or just simply survival, then we could have a case where these two substances are the most legitimate method for fighting off werewolves and vampires...you are killing the bacteria that allow them to survive.
The tag on this is mythology, not hard science. You need to think mythologically.
How could garlic, a spice whose only offense is plain stink, deter an attractive man with a seriously unhealthy diet, as opposed to more potent spices like pepper or azalea?
Garlic is cleansing. The flavour is refreshing, crisp, and clean. (I’m thinking here of the flavour of the leafs and flowers of wild garlic, or perhaps a raw garlic bulb.) It is not surprising that it should come to be seen as a ward against evil, especially an unclean, putrid evil like a vampire/zombie (the two are pretty much the same in early mythology; only recently has the vampire become aristocratic and attractive).
Why does silver kill a canine-like hominid whereas lead and mercury are known to be more deadly metals?
Well, lead and mercury are not known to be deadly. Lead, in particular, is common in plumbing (hence the name, in fact). Quicksilver is important to alchemists (they believe it is the most important of all substances because it encompasses solid and liquid, earth and heaven, and life and death), but I doubt that the common folk know much about it. Certainly neither metal is known to be poisonous.
Besides, that’s irrelevant. What matters about silver is again its purity: it doesn’t tarnish (it does these days, because there’s a lot more sulphur in the air than there used to be; make of that what you will). A metal which doesn’t tarnish is pure, and hence a ward against evil.
Remember, while official Christian doctrine may have no place for vampires and werewolves, that doesn’t mean that European mythology was a completely separate strand of thought. The learned men of the Church may not have believed in these folk, but those who did believe also went to church on Sunday. Therefore, mythological creatures were fitted into Christian theology. (By some tellings, the fairly folk were the third group of angels: those who sided with God remained in Heaven, those who sided with Satan became devils in Hell, and those who did not pick a side were thrown down to Earth and became fairies (or seals, if they landed in the water).)
Vampires and werewolves, unlike fairies, are actively evil, and must therefore be in league with the Devil. A horseshoe or cold iron might work against elves, but for actual evil what you need is a symbol of purity. It has nothing to do with poison.
I can tell you about garlic. Some people, after eating garlic, extrude a pungent odor which is very noticable in the same area that Hollywood vampires bite.
werewolves may have represented women. the fact that they become monsters every month was supposedly a commentary on monthly hormonal changes that could potentially make women somewhat less agreeable. as such, the silver bullet was actually silver gifts purchased to try to appease the woman.
Regarding the silver (and holy symbols and daylight), I loved the explanation from Dracula 2000 (Spoiler) in which Judas Iscariot is shown to be the original vampire - silver from the 30 pieces, holy symbols due to his betrayal, and the curse to walk undead. I don't remember it treating the garlic bit, though.
