Dioscorea Villosa appears in 9 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.
“Wild Yam. (Dioscoreaceae.) Persons of feeble digestive powers, old or young. Flatulence after meals or after eating, especially of tea-drinkers; are often subject to violent colic. Griping pains in abdomen about umbilicus. Violent twisting colic, occurring in regular paroxysms, as if intestines were grasped and…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Dioscorea villosa, Linn. Natural Order , Dioscoreaceæ. Common name , Wild yam. Preparation , Tincture of the root (or triturations of the resinoid, Dioscorëin). Authorities.”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Wild Yam As a remedy for many kinds of pain , especially colic, and in severe, painful affections of abdominal and pelvic viscera; it ranks with the polychrests of the Materia Medica. Persons of feeble digestive powers; tea-drinkers, with much flatulence. Gall stone colic . Calls things by the wrong name. Dull pain in…”
- Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“AIR Open, Amel.:- IN ROOM, agg., air hunger, etc. BORING, grinding, etc. CALCULI, atheroma, etc. CRAMP, colic, etc. CUTTING DIRECTION of sensations, Radiating FLATULENCE, Left INCONTINENCE, stool, urine, sexual, etc. NERVE PAIN PAROXYSMS, repeated (Comp. Spasmodic.) PRESSURE, Amel.; Lying on painful or affected side…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“villosa. Wild yam. N. O. Dioscoreaceæ. Tincture of fresh root, or trituration of resinoid, Dioscorein. Abdomen, distended / Acne / Angina pectoris / Biliousness / Cholerine / Chorea / Colds / Colic / Constipation / Cough / Cramps / Diarrhœa / Dysentery / Dysmenorrhœa / Dyspepsia / Enteralgia / Flatulence /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Wild Yam. Dioscoreaceæ. A perennial creeper, growing wild in this country, principally in Southern States, on bushes and fences. Introduced and proved extensively by Cushing (see Monograph) ; also proved by Woods, Burt and Nichols (See Allen's Encyclopædia, vol. 4, p. 123 ). The tincture is prepared from the root…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: wild farn. Calls things by wrong names (C.). Irritability and restlessness (Ars., Phos.). Persons of feeble digestive powers, old or young (Ant-C., Carb-V., Lyc., Nux-V, Puls., Sep.) (A.). Belching of large quantities of offensive gas (Asaf., Carb-V., Lyc., Nat-S.) (Br.). Burning in the stomach (Ars…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Colic pain begins at umbilicus and radiates to all parts of the body, even extremities.”
