Rumex crispus 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.
“Yellow Dock. (Polygonaceae.) For the tubercular diathesis, extremely sensitive skin and mucous membranes. Extremely sensitive to open air ; hoarseness; worse evenings; after exposure to cold; voice uncertain. Tickling in throat pit , causing, dry, teasing cough. Dry, incessant, fatiguing cough; worse from changing air…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Rumex crispus, Linn. Natural order , Polygonaceæ. Common names , Yellow Dock; (G.), Krauser Ampfer. Preparation , Tincture of the root. Authorities. 2 to 8 , provings by Dr. B. F. Joslin, published in Am. Hom. Rev., Trans. Am. Inst. of Hom., 1858, and in Monograph); 2 , E. M. K. took a solution of 1 drop of tincture…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Yellow Dock Is characterized by pains, numerous and varied, neither fixed nor constant anywhere. Cough caused by an incessant tickling in the throat-pit, which tickling runs down to the bifurcation of the bronchial tubes. Touching the throat-pit brings on the cough. Worse from the least cold air; so that all cough…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“Mucous membranes:Larynx. Trachea. THROAT-PIT. Bowels. Nerves. Skin. Left side; chest. Joints. Ankles. COOL AIR: INHALING. Open air. Raw changes. Uncovering. Night. Pressure; on trachea. Covering mouth. Wrapping up. Dry , sensitive mucous membranes. Stickiness, with burning. Every cold affects the joints. Sharp pains…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Curled Dock. Yellow Dock. N. O. Polygonaceæ. Tincture of fresh root. Abortion / Aphonia / Asthma / Borborygmi / Bronchitis / Catarrh / Corns / Coryza / Cough / Diarrhœa / Dyspepsia / Epistaxis / Feet, tender / Gastralgia / Heart, pain in; affections of / Indigestion / Irritation / Lichen / Mouth, ulceration of /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Yellow Dock. Polygonaceæ. A native of Europe introduced into this country, where it grows wild in fields and waste places. The tincture is prepared from the fresh root. Provings by Houghton, Thesis, Hahn. Med. College of Penna., 1852 ; Joslin, Trans. Am. Inst., 1858. The provers were E. M. K., H. M. Paine, Wm. E…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Rumex, the yellow dock, is a neglected remedy, and one that has been only partially proved. The mental symptoms have not been brought out, but the catarrhal symptoms have been well expressed by provers. There is a state of sadness, low spirited; aversion to work; irritable mental excitability. This includes about all…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Low-spirited, with serious expression of the face. Irritable, -disinclined to mental exertions. Dull feeling in the head (with the cough). Dull pain in the forehead (worse on motion). Pain in the eyes, as from dryness and inflammation of the lids, especially in the evening. Itching, deep in the ears. Violent sneezing…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: yellow dock. This remedy is indicated in those of tubercular diathesis, who are extremely sensitive to the open air (Bl.). Intense itching of the skin when undressing to go to bed (N.). Itching of various parts, worse by cold, and better by warmth. It should be remembered in urticaria and prurigo, when…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Violent incessant dry cough; worse on inhaling the least cold air; covers the mouth to keep the cold air out, with relief. Brownish diarrhœa, < in the morning. Intense itching of the skin when undressing to go to bed. There are three localities in which this remedy acts very markedly, viz.: Respiratory organs, bowels…”