Arnica montana appears in 12 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 HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Leopard's Bane (Compositae) Nervous women, sanguine plethoric persons, lively expression and very red face. For the bad effects resulting from mechanical injuries; even if received years ago. Especially adapted to those who remain long impressed by even slight mechanical injuries. Sore, lame, bruised feeling all…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Arnica montana, L. Nat. order , Compositæ. Common name (German), Whohlverleih. Preparation , Tincture from the whole plant when in flower (Hahnemann). Authorities.”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Leopard's Bane (ARNICA) Produces conditions upon the system quite similar to those resulting from injuries, falls, blows, contusions. Tinnitus aurium. Putrid phenomena . Septic conditions; prophylactic of pus infection. Apoplexy, red, full face. It is especially suited to cases when any injury, however remote, seems…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“BLOOD. BLOOD-VESSELS. Nerves. Muscles. Digestive organs. INJURIES: BRUISES. Shocks. Jarring. Labor. Overexertion. Sprains. TOUCH. After sleep. Motion. Old age. Alcohol. Lying: Head low (Ver-v.). Outstretched. A very painful and offensive remedy. Progressive weakness. Has absorbent action. Shock: mental or physical…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“montana. Leopard's-bane. Fallkraut. N. O. Compositæ. Tincture of whole fresh plant. Tincture of root. Abscess / Apoplexy / Back, pains in / Baldness / Bed-sores / Black-eye / Boils / Brain, affections of / Breath, fetid / Bronchitis / Bruises / Carbuncle / Chest, affections of / Chorea / Corns / Cramp / Diabetes /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Leopard's Bane. Compositæ. A widely spread plant growing on the high mountain plains of Germany. One of the oldest popular drugs, called in the German Wohlverleih , which means bestowing, well-being, having nothing to do with wolves, as our learned French colleague supposed ; it is also called Fallkraut , meaning the…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“The Arnica patient is morose, wants to be let alone, does not want to be talked to, does not want to be approached. He does not want to be approached, both because he does not wish to enter into conversation, a mental state, and also because he does not wish to be touched on account of the great bodily soreness. These…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Pain, as if beaten or bruised in outer parts. Pressing in inner parts. Pricking from without inwards. Pain, as if sprained in outer parts and the joints. Tingling in outer parts. Tearing and drawing in outer parts. Oversensitiveness of the whole body. Twitching of the muscles. Ebullitions with burning of the upper…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Depression of spirits and absence of mind. Shedding of tears and exclamations after rage. Great sensitiveness of the mind, with anxiety and restlessness. Unconsciousness, (like fainting after mechanical injuries). Declines to answer any questions. Quarrelsome. Giddiness, with nausea, when moving and rising; better…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: leopard's bane. Over-sensitiveness of the whole body (Coff., Kali-C., Nux-V.). SORE, LAME, BRUISED FEELING ALL THROUGH THE BODY, AS IF BEATEN (Bapt., Eup-P., Ham., Pyrog.) (A.). Pricking from without inwards. Loud blowing inspirations and expirations (C.). Tearing and drawing in outer parts. Tingling in…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Bruised, sore feeling all over; bed feels too hard. Head, or head and face hot; body and extremities cold. Ecchymoses; as from bruises. Stupor; answers, then falls back into stupor (fevers). Taste and eructations and stool like rotten eggs. Recent and remote affections from injuries, especially contusions or blows…”
