CHERRY BARK Prunus virginiana, L.( Department of Education, Moscow, 1957)
Dose: 15 drops in water. Cherry bark will dissolve stones but should be combined with other herbs and administered carefully and over a period of several months, as when taken too fast will expel the stones abruptly without being softened. Homoeopathic Clinical: Cold infusion or tincture of inner bark; solution of concentrated resinous extract, Prunin— Acidity, Anorexia, Dyspepsia, Heart( weakness of, hypertrophy of. irritable), Pyrosis.
CHESTNUT Castanea dentata, Mill.( N. O.: Fagacaae)
Common Names: Spanish Chestnut, Horse-Chestnut, Sweet Chestnut. Features: The stately Chestnut tree grows in North America, western Asia and southern Europe. The species are usually self-sterile, requiring more than one tree for the production of chestnuts. The flowers consist of long catkins, which may contain the female or fruit bearing organs at their base, or may be purely male of staminate.
If the female flowers are fertilized they develop spiny burrs, containing l – 5 one-seeded nuts. The leaves are dark green above, light beneath; slightly broken, folded or matted together, the odour is light with an astringent taste. The chestnut is low in protein, high in carbohydrates and starch, contains minerals such as phosphate of potash, magnesia, some sodium and iron. Medicinal Parts: The leaves and inner bark. Solvents: Boiling water, alcohol( partially). Bodily Influence: Tonic, Mild Sedative, Astringent. Uses: Culpeper made use of the inner skin that contains the nut:“ Is of so binding a quality that a scruple of it being taken by a man or ten grains by a child, soon stops any flux whatsoever.”
The green or dried leaves can be used, and it is considered a particular herb for whooping cough or nagging distressing coughs, controlling the paroxysmal; and in frequent hiccoughs and other irritable and excitable conditions of the respiratory organs. Fevers, ague respond to the soothing of the mucous surfaces and the nervous system, acting as an antispasmodic. Lobelia inflata, Blue cohosh and Caulophyllum thalictroides are most successfully combined for the above mentioned.