ACTAEA RACEMOSA

(Actaea gyrostachya) (CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA) N. O. ---Ranunculaceae.

Latin, Actaea gyrostachya, A. monogyna, A. orthostachya, A. racemosa, Botrophis actaeoides, B. serpentaria, Christopheriana canadensis racemosa, Cimicifuga, serpentaria ; English, Black cohosh, Black snakeroot, Bugbane, Deerweed, Rattleroot, Rattlesnake root, Rattleweed, Richweed, Squawroot;French, Racine d’actee a grappes; German, Schwarze Schlangenwurzel; Vernacular, Afeoon Ratie.

Description:--

A perennial, deciduous plant, with thick, short, horizontal, tough root, with numerous long fibers underneath, scarred from fallen scales. It is blackish externally, whitish internally, with a peculiar, disagreeable odour, and bitter, astringent taste. The stem is straight, simple, cylindrical, smooth, 3 to 8 feet high. The leaves are bi-or tri-pinnate, lower very large, upper smaller, leaflets cut and serrate. The flowers appear in Jun and July, are numerous, ½ inch wide, on slender horizontal pedicels, forming a terminal raceme 1 to 3 feet long, white and fetid. The fruit ripens in September.

Found in :-Rich woodlands, edges of field, newly cleared hillsides in the United State from Maine to Michigan, Canada and southward. In Pakistan found in Murree Hills.

Introduced in homoeopathic

literature in 1856 by Dr. A. Houghton, N. A. J, of Hom. V. 27. [ Allen’s Encyc. Mat. Med. X. 468].

Part Used:--

The fresh root.

Preparation:--

(a)Tincture Q: =	Drug Strength 1/10
Cimicifuga, moist magma containing solids	100gm.
Plant moisture 185 Cc.	= 285
Distilled Water	200 Cc.
Strong alcohol	650 Cc.
To make one thousand cubic centimeters of tincture.

(b) Dilutions: 2x to contain one part tincture, four parts distilled water, five parts alcohol ; 3x and higher with dispensing alcohol.

ACONITUM NAPELLUS

(Aconitum angustifolium) N. O. ---Ranunculaceae.

Latin, Aconitum angustifolium, A. caulesimplex, A. coeruleum, A. dissectum, A. multifidum, A. Stoerckianum, A. tauricum, A. vulgare, Napellum coeruleum; English, Friar’s cap, Helmet flower, Monkshood, wolfsbane; French, Aconit; German, Eisenhut, Sturmhat, Arabic, Khan-i-Kuzab, Persian, Beesh, Urdu, Bachhnak, Mitha tailia.

Description:--

A perennial herb, with a tapering root, descending perpendicularly. The stem is erect, 2 to 6 feet high, round, smooth, green, and slightly hairy above. The leaves are alternate, long-stalked, spreading and palmately cut, the lower more deeply than the upper, into three or five segments, which are again divided. They are dark-green and shiny on the upper surface, paler and slightly hairy on the under. The flower which are of a dark-violet color, appear from May to July, are stalked and racemose, not numerous nor large. The calyx is wanting, sepals five, the upper helmet-shaped and beaked, nearly hemispherical, the lower two, oblong-oval.

Found in :-Indigenous to the temperate alpine Himalayas from Nepal to Kashmir, where it grows in aboudance. It is found in wet, shady places in hilly districts; growing at high altitudes, throughout the mountainous regions. It grows throughout Siberia. It has become naturalized in the west of England an Wales.

Introduced in homoeopathic

Hahnemann published his proving of it in 1805 in “Fragmenta de Viribus Medicamentorum Positivus” (Allen’s Encyc. Mat. Med. I. 12.)

Part Used:--

The whole plant and root gathered at the beginning of flowering. At the time Hahnemann made his provings the many species were not accurately distinguished, and it is not certain which were employed by him. In subsequent provings different species have been used indiscriminately. The root is much stronger than the herb or leaves, and is more uniform in strength. The results of careful and repeated experiments show the root to posses nine times the strength of the leaf. In the provings the symptoms of the herb, root and seed have not been separated, not even those of different species.

Preparation:--

(a)Tincture Q: =	Drug Strength 1/10
Aconitum, moist magma containing solids	100gm.
Plant moisture 350 Cc.	= 450
Strong alcohol	683 Cc.
To make one thousand cubic centimeters of tincture.

(b) Dilutions: 2x to contain one part tincture, two parts distilled water, seven parts alcohol; 3x and higher with dispensing alcohol.