by Henry N. Guernsey — Key-Notes to the Materia Medica
This is of much use in infantile colics, where the little patient seems to be full of wind.
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Senna appears in 5 of the 21 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.
“Cassia obovata, Colladon; (C. Senna, Linn.); also C. acutifolia, Delile; C. Lanceolata, Lam. Senna, the Arabian name; Senna Alexandrina. Natural order , Leguminosæ. Preparation , Triturations of the leaves. (The active principle, Cathartic acid and its salts, is not soluble in Alcohol). Authorities. Repeated sneezing…”
“Cassia Acutifolia Is of much use in infantile colics when the child seems to be full of wind . Oxaluria, with excess of urea; increased specific gravity. Where the system is broken down, bowels constipated, muscular weakness, and waste of nitrogenous materials, Senna will act as a tonic. Ebullitions of blood at night…”
“The leaflets of several species of Cassia: C. obovata, Alexandrian Senna, is the principal. N. O. Leguminosæ. Trituration or tincture of the dried leaves. Colic; flatulent, of infants / Exhaustion / Nitrogenous waste / Sleeplessness / Sneezing, with heat Used as a laxative in ordinary practice, Senna has proved an…”
“Painful colic from incarcerated flatulence (particularly in young children). Diarrhœic stools, followed by tenesmus and burning at the anus.”
Kent's Repertory lists Senna in 12 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in ABDOMEN (4), HEAD (4), MIND (2), BACK (1), FACE (1).
