Wyethia

Wyethia helenioides, Nutt. (Alarconia helenoides, D. C.; Melarhiza inuloides, Kellogg.)

Natural order , Compositæ.

Preparation , Tincture of the root.

Authority.

J. M. Selfridge, M.D., copied from original manuscript; the symptoms were observed by seven men and two women; the green root in substance or the mother tincture was used by each prover; when the tincture was taken, the dose varied from 5 to 40 drops; the taste of the root is herbaceous, aromatic, and slightly bitter, leaving a sweetish sensation in the mouth; no symptoms were manifested for some minutes after chewing the root or swallowing the tincture.

HEAD

• Dizziness.
• Rush of blood to the head.
• Severe headache.
• Pain in the forehead over the right eye, at first sharp, followed by a feeling of fulness.

EAR

• Itching in the right ear.

MOUTH

• Mouth feels as if it had been scalded.
• Increased flow of tough ropy saliva.

THROAT

• Throat feels swollen; epiglottis dry, and has a burning sensation; constant desire to swallow saliva to relieve the dryness, yet affording no comfort; swallows with difficulty.
• Pricking dry sensation in posterior nares; sensation as if something were in the nasal passages; an effort to clear them through the throat affords no relief. [10.]
• The uvula feels elongated.
• Dryness of the fauces; constant desire to clear the throat by hemming.*
• Sensation of heat down the œsophagus, into the stomach, worse while eating.

STOMACH

• Belching of wind, alternating with hiccough.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Sense of weight in the stomach, as if something indigestible had been eaten.

ABDOMEN

• Pain and bearing down in the right side.

ANUS

• Itching of the anus.

STOOL

• Passages loose, diarrhœic, of a dark-brown color, came on in the night, and lasted five days.
• Passages small, dark brown; look burned. [20.]
• Passages previously light-colored, irregular, and constipated, became dark-colored, regular, and soft.
• Great constipation, accompanied with hæmorrhoids, not bleeding; never had them before or since (three provers).

SEXUAL ORGANS

• Pain in the left ovary, shooting down to the knee.
• Leucorrhœa.
• Menses appear for the first time in over a year, since birth of last child; color purple and scanty, with great pain.

RESPIRATORY ORGANS

• Burning sensation in the bronchial tubes.
• Dry hacking cough, caused by tickling in the epiglottis.

CHEST

• Sharp pain just below the ribs on the right side, deepseated, followed by soreness.

PULSE

• Slowness of the pulse, decreased in ten hours from 72 to 58 per minute.

SUPERIOR EXTREMITIES

• Pain in the right arm, with stiffness of the wrist and hand.

GENERALITIES. [30.]

• Feels weak and nervous, uneasy; is apprehensive that some calamity is about to occur.
• Feels very weak, as a person feels after a severe illness.
• Unable to make much exertion; the least exercise causes perspiration.
• All the symptoms worse in the afternoon.

FEVER

• Cold sweat over the whole body, which soon dries off, and again comes and goes as if by flashes.