Conium maculatum 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.
“Hemlock Poison (Umbelliferae) The "Balm of Gilead" for diseases of old maids and women during and after climacteric. Especially for diseases of old men; old maids; old bachelors; with rigid muscular fibre; persons with light hair who are easily excited; strong persons of sedentary habits. Debility of old people…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Conium maculatum, L. Natural order , Umbelliferæ. Common names (Cicuta of the old Romans, but not since the seventeenth century), Poison hemlock; (G.), Schierling; (F.), Grande ciguë. Preparation , Tincture of the fresh herb in blossom. Authorities. (Nos. 1 to 36 , from Hahnemann, Ch. Kr., with notes by Dr. Hughes).”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Poison Hemlock (CONIUM) An old remedy, rendered classical by Plato's graphic description of its employment in the death of Socrates. The ascending paralysis it produces, ending in death by failure of respiration, shows the ultimate tendency of many symptoms produced in the provings, for which Conium is an excellent…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“NERVES. MUSCLES. GLANDS: MAMMÆ. Ovaries. Sexual organs. Respiration. SEEING MOVING OBJECTS. ALCOHOL. Raising arms. After exertion. Injury. Night. Sexual excesses. Cold; taking. Continence. Old age. Lying; head low. Letting part hang down. Irregular action ending in progressive DEBILITY, as in old age: clothes…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Poison Hemlock. N. O. Umbelliferæ. Tincture of fresh plant in flower. Asthma / Bladder, inflammation of / Breast, affections of / painful / Bronchitis / Bruises / Cancer / Cataract / Chorea / Cough / Depression of spirits / Diphtheritic paralysis / Dysmenia (membranous) / Erysipelas / Eyes, affections of /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Spotted, or Poison Hemlock. Umbelliferæ. A native of Europe, but naturalized in the United States. The active principle is Conia, a yellowish, oily, transparent fluid, lighter than water, of an acrid, nauseous, tobacco-like taste. It is very volatile ; slightly soluble in water ; its combinations with acids do not…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“This medicine is a deep, long acting antipsoric, establishing a state of disorder in the economy that is so far reaching and so long lasting that it disturbs almost all the tissues of the body. Glands: The complaints are brought on from taking cold, and the glands become affected all over the body. From every little…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Ailments and weakness of old men (ecchymosis). Obscuration of the cornea. Swelling and induration of the glands, with stinging and tingling, after bruises and contusions. Hysterical and hypochondriacal attacks after excessive sexual indulgence or after entire abstinenece. Great sensation of debility in the morning in…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Hypochondria and hysteria from suppression of, or from too free an indulgence in, the sexual instinct, with low spiritedness, anxiousness and sadness. Forgetfulness; excessive difficulty of recollecting things. Dread of men when they approach him; nevertheless he dreads being alone. Inclination to start, as with…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: poison hemlock. Suitable for old men, old maids, women with tight, rigid fibre; scrofulous and cancerous people; children prematurely old (N.). Ailments and weakness of old men (ecchymosis). SWELLING AND INDURATION OF THE GLANDS, WITH STINGING AND TINGLING, AFTER BRUISES AND CONTUSIONS. Great sensation of…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Vertigo, especially < on turning the head, or looking around sidewise, or turning in bed. Swelling and induration of glands, after contusions or bruises. Cancerous and scrofulous persons with enlarged glands. Urine flows, stops and flows again intermittently; prostatic or uterine affections. Breasts sore, hard and…”
