Hydrastis Canadensis

Where are the provings of this remedy to be found ?

In Hale's New Remedies , and in the North American Journal of Homoeopathy , 1858, and the British Journal of Homoeopathy , 1860. American Homoeopathic Observer , Vol. III.

Where does Hydrastis grow, what is its common name, and what is the name of its alkaloid ?

It grows in the United States, from New York to Minnesota and southward, its common name is Golden Seal , and its alkaloids are called Hydrastine and Berberine , the latter being identical with that found in Berberis vulgaris .

From what part of the plant is our mother tincture prepared and when should it be gathered ?

From the fresh root, gathered as the plant is budding to blossom or in the fall.

Describe the method of preparing the tincture.

Chop and pound the fresh root to a fine pulp and weigh. Add gradually two parts of alcohol by weight to each part of pulp. Stir thoroughly and pour into well-stoppered bottle and stand in dark, cool place for eight days ; shaking it daily. Decant, strain and filter. Drug power, 1/6. The tincture is reddish orange in color, straining everything a deep yellow. It has a bitter burning taste, no odor, and a slightly acid reaction.

What is the general action of Hydrastis ?

It has the property of contracting the blood vessels, especially of the pelvic organs, thus producing a relatively anaemic condition of the same, and it is, therefore, useful in many conditions of the female organs which are accompanied with haemorrhage, further :

It acts on mucous membranes, relaxing them, producing a thick, yellowish, ropy secretion. It also produces a condition of marasmus, and is particularly active in old, easily tired people, cachectic individuals, with great debility, emaciation, prostration and weak digestion.

Give the symptoms indicating Hydrastis in nasal catarrh.

Watery, excoriating coryza, with burning and rawness in the nose and a sensation as if a hair were in the nose, the discharge being more profuse out of doors ; later, thick, yellow, tenacious discharge and a constant dropping from the posterior nares into the throat.

Adenoid vegetations that are bathed constantly in a thick tenacious secretion.

How does this condition differ from that found under Kali bichromicum ?

With Kali bichromicum there is a tendency to deep ulceration, and the mucus is even more tenacious and stringy than with Hydrastis .

Is there any ulceration with Hydrastis ?

There is, but it is a more superficial ulcerative process than that under Kali bichromicum .

What are the stomach symptoms of Hydrastis ?

A sinking, gone feeling at the pit of the stomach ; an empty, gone feeling, as if the patient had suffered from a diarrhoea for a long time ; there are also putrid or sour eructations and some nausea. Atonic dyspepsia ; tongue large, flabby, slimy.

In what diseases of the stomach will Hydrastis be found to be most often indicated ?

In ulceration, cancer and chronic gastric catarrh. It will often remove the pain and improve the general health. It corresponds to the diathesis, the worn jaded look, the sallow complexion, the hide bound skin and the melancholy.

What are the indications for Hydrastis in constipation ?

After the use of purgatives, when there is present the sinking, gone feeling at the epigastrium, with symptoms of gastro-duodenal catarrh, such as a torpidity of the liver, yellow skin and tenderness in the hepatic region and light colored stools.

What other remedy is useful for constipation resulting from abuse of purgatives ?

Nux vomica .

What is the leucorrhoea of Hydrastis ?

Like all the secretions of Hydrastis it is thick, yellow and tenacious, and is accompanied with great weakness and constipation.

What is the principal use to which the eclectics put this remedy ?

As a "tonic" in digestive complaints. Here it is distinctly homoeopathic, as it produces a general weariness, excessive weakness, painful sensation of tiredness even early in the morning on rising. Muscular pains in the lumbar and sacral regions and lower extremities, inclination to lie down and to stretch and yawn. Exhaustion of intellectual functions.

What are the chief ear symptoms of Hydrastis ?

Muco-purulent discharge, roaring in the ears and catarrhal deafness , with heavy, dull condition of the head.