Equisetum Hyemale appears in 8 of the 13 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.
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Equisetum hyemale, Linn. Natural order , Equisetaceæ. Common name , Scouring Rush. Preparation , Tincture of whole plant. Authorities. Provings of Hugh M. Smith, M.D., Thesis, N. Y. Hom. Med. Coll., 1876. Very irritable and easily fatigued (fourth day), 1b. Confusion and Vertigo. Heavy and confused feeling in head at…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Scouring-rush (EQUISETUM) Principal action on the bladder. A remedy for enuresis and dysuria. Severe, dull pain and feeling of fullness in bladder, not relieved by urinating. Frequent urging with severe pain at the close of urination . Urine flows only drop by drop. Sharp, burning , cutting pain in urethra while…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“GENITO-URINARY TRACT. At close of urination. Pressure. Aching, full, tender bladder. Cystitis. Prickling, burning, or cutting in urethra. Dysuria. NOCTURNAL ENURESIS; with irritable bladder. Dribbling urine. Mucus in urine. Complementary: Sil. Related: Canth.”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“hyemale. Scouring Rush. A rush growing in damp soil in Europe and America. N. O. Equisetaceæ. Tincture of fresh plant chopped and pounded to a pulp. Cystitis / Dropsy / Enuresis / General paralysis / Gleet / Gonorrhœa / Gravel / Hæmaturia / Urine, retention of The chief effects of Equisetum are found in the urinary…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Scouring Rush. Equisetaceæ. A rush, growing in damp soil in Europe and North America. The tincture is prepared from the fresh plant, chopped and pounded to a pulp. A popular remedy for dropsy, suppression of urine, gravel, hæmaturia, gonorrhœa and gleet. Proved by Smith, De Korth, and Chapin. See Allen's Encyclopædia…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: scouring bush. Dull pain in the region of the right kidney, with urgent desire to urinate (C). Burning in the urethra when urinating (Canth., Merc., Sulph.) (N.). CYSTIC IRRITATION WITH TENESMUS (Apis, Bell., Canth., Dulc., Ferr-P., Merc-C., Nux-V., Puls., Sep., Thuj.) (Bl.). Pain in the bladder, as if…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“This remedy is sometimes successful in cases which are not relieved by Cantharis. There is as much inclination to urinate as with Cantharis, and there is pain in the bladder, as if too full of urine, which must be voided in order to get relief from both pain and pressure, but urinating does not satisfy and he must…”
