Bodily Influence: Bark— Astringent, Tonic, Antiseptic; Berries— Refrigerant, Diuretic. Uses: The American Indians crushed the fruit to make a refreshing drink, and also dried the berries for winter use. For application to skin diseases, they made a poultice of the bruised leaves and fruit. Where conditions of mucous membranes are irritated, as in dysentery, scalding of the urinary passage, Sumach is appreciably reliable. The infusion as an injection of the bark( being stronger) and tea taken internally will give prompt relief in leucorrhoea, rectal conditions, chronic diarrhoea and rectal haemorrhage. Of use in malaria and all kinds of fevers, canker in the mouth and as a gargle for sore throat. Sumach is often combined with Slippery elm( Ulmus fulva) and White pine bark for scrofula. The tea is cleansing to the system, and Sumach berries with Blueberry( Vaccinium myrtillus) are most effective in diabetes. A syrup may be made with the berries by covering them with boiling water, steeping for 1 hr., straining, adding honey, boiling into a syrup, and bottling for future use.
SUMACH Rhus glabra, L.( Medicina, Moscow, 1965)
Dose: 1 teaspoonful of either the bark, leaves or berries steeped ½ hr. in 1 cupful of boiling water. When cool, 2 – 4 cupfuls a day. Of the tincture, 10 – 20 drops. Externally: For old sores and skin ulcers and wounds apply poultice of bruised leaves and fruit, or a strong tea, and bathe area as needed. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of fresh bark, roots or berries— Debility, Diarrhoea, Dreams( annoying), Dysentery, Epistaxis, Haemorrhages, Headache, Mouth( ulcers in). Russian Experience: The species Sumach( Rhus cariaria) grows in south Russia and south Asiatic Russia. From the raw material estimated extract contains 33 per cent tannin( Medicine, Moscow, 1965). Sumach can be very irritating, especially on hot summer days, when a simple touch of the leaves can inflame the skin in various individual ways, Uses: Russian Homoeopathy and Chinese medicine use Sumach for rheumatism( Moscow University, Moscow, 1963) and for internal bleeding, diarrhoea, enteritic colitis( Atlas, Moscow, 1963). Externally: Tannin extracts are used for burns, fresh wounds, chronic ulcers, eczema, and as a gargle for inflammation of the throat( Atlas, Moscow, 1963).
SUNDEW Drosera rotundifolia, L.( N. O.: Droseraceae)
Common Names: Round Leaf, Sundew, Flytrap, Dewplant. Features: A genus, Drosera, of carnivorous plants with ninety species throughout the world. D. rotundifolia is common in North America in damp, sandy soil near bogs from Labrador to Florida, Alaska to California; sometimes so abundant the dew-beds are aglow with glistening red.
The fibrous black rootlets are reddish inside. The leaves are round on long stems extending from