Cactus grandiflorus appears in 11 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.
“Night-blooming Cereus. (Cactaceae) Sanguineous congestions in persons of plethoric habit (Acon.); often resulting in haemorrhage; sanguineous apoplexy. Fear of death ; believes disease incurable (Ars.). Haemorrhage: from nose, lungs, stomach, rectum, bladder (Crot., Mill., Phos.). Headache, pressing like a heavy…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Cereus grandiflorus, Haw. (Cactus grandiflorus, Linn.). Nat. order , Cactaceæ. Common name , Night-blooming cereus. Preparation , Tincture of the flowers and young twigs. Authorities. Slight delirium at night; on waking up, it ceases for a time, but begins again as soon as he goes to sleep (seventh day), 1. Talking…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Night-blooming Cereus (SELENICEREUS SPINULOSUS) Acts on circular muscular fibers, hence constrictions. It is the heart and arteries especially that at once respond to the influence of Cactus, producing very characteristic constrictions as of an iron band. This sensation is found in various places, œsophagus, bladder…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“HEART (muscle). CIRCULATION. Head; right. Chest. Circular muscles. Lying: On left side. On occiput. Periodically. Exertion. 10-11 A.M. or 11 P.M. Night. Open air. Pressure on vertex. CONSTRICTIONS; heart; chest; neck; body feels tight or wrapped, (Bar-c. Grap. Med. Nux-v. Sul.). Irregular circulation. Violent…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Cereus grandiflorus. Night-blooming Cereus. (Mexico and the West Indies.) N. O. Cactaceæ. Tincture of youngest and tenderest stems and flowers collected in summer. Aneurism / Angina pectoris / Apoplexy / Arteries, atheroma of / Asthma / Bladder, paralysis of / Brain, congestion of / Bronchitis / Diaphragm, rheumatism…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Nightblooming Cereus. Cactaceæ. We are indebted for this very valuable medicine to the wife of Dr. Rubini in Naples. Admiring the great beauty and sweet odor of the flower, and knowing its short life, opening at evening, closing and dying before dawn of day, she induced her husband to make a preparation from the young…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Generalities: Constrictions, contractions and congestions run through Cactus. Determination of blood to the head, and coldness of the extremities. Or determination of blood to an organ, the chest, or the heart. There is never an equal circulation of blood in the body; it is spasmodic and irregular. Disturbed by…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Sadness and bad humor; taciturnity, melancholy, hypochondriasis. Vertigo, from sanguineous congestions to the head. Pulsating pain, with the sensation of weight in the right side of the head. Heavy pain, like a weight on the vertex; worse from sounds even talking. Dimness of sight; cannot see at a distance; objects…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: night blooming cereus. In diseases that call for the use of Cactus, there will always be found more or less derangement of the heart (Bt.). Sanguineous congestions in persons of plethoric habit (Acon, Bell., Ferr-P.), often resulting in hæmorrhage A.). HÆMORRHAGE: FROM NOSE, LUNGS, STOMACH, RECTUM OR…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Constriction of the heart, as if an iron band prevented its normal movement; < lying on left side. Constriction, general; of heart, chest, bladder, rectum, uterus, vagina, etc. Hemorrhages in connection with heart troubles; nose, lungs, stomach, rectum, bladder. Palpitation; day or night; worse when walking and lying…”
