Senega appears in 10 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 TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Polygala senega, L. Natural order , Polygalaceæ. Common name , Seneca snake-root. Preparation , Tincture of the root. Authorities. (Nos. 1 to 8 , from Thomas Massie, "An Experimental Inquiry into the Properties of the Polygala Senega," Inaug. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1803). 9 to 34 , from Seidel's…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Snakewort Catarrhal symptoms, especially of the respiratory tract, and distinct eye symptoms of a paralytic type, are most characteristic. Circumscribed spots in chest left after inflammations. Suddenly remembers unimportant regions which he saw long ago. Inclined to quarrel. Dullness, with pressure and weakness of…”
- Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“ALBUMINOUS, glairy discharges (Comp. Gelatinous) CHEST, internal COUGH, painful FLATULENCE, Left LYING, on side, Agg. RATTLING READING, Agg., eyestrain, Agg.”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Polygala senega. Seneca Snake-root. N. O. Polygalaceæ. Tincture of powdered dried root. Amblyopia / Ascites / Asthma / Bladder, irritable / catarrh of / Blepharitis ciliaris / Bronchitis / Constipation / Cornea, opacity of / Cough / Enuresis / Facial paralysis / Hay-fever / Hydrothorax / Hypopion / Influenza / Iritis…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Seneca Snake Root. Polygalaceæ. This plant grows wild in all parts of the United States. The alcoholic tincture is prepared from the powdered, dried root. For general effects obtained from experiments with the powdered root and tincture see Allen's Encyclopædia, including Seidel's and Lembke's collections, vol. 8, p…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Senega is an old lung tonic, and I suspect it has been an ingredient in most of the lung medicines for the last one hundred years. It has been only partially proved, and needs further proving to bring out its particulars. When a medicine has been fully proved , it can be said of it that its symptoms are so well known…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Great bodily and mental debility, with stretching of the limbs and accompanied with heaviness and dullness of the head. Great weakness, which seems to come from and of the chest. Diseases of the mucous membranes. Many symptoms, especially those of the chest, are aggravated during rest and are relieved by walking in…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Great anxiety, with rapid breathing. Melancholy mood, with great irritability of temper. Hilarity, with great irritability, changing to anger and wrath. Dulness and stupefaction of the head, with pressure in the eyes, and obscuration of sight. The headache always extends to the eyes, is aggravated in the warm room…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: snake root. Especially valuable with old people, but works well with others (N.). Great bodily and mental debility, with stretching of the limbs and accompanied with heaviness and dullness of the head (Rhus-T.). Great weakness, which seems to come from and of the chest. Many symptoms, especially those of…”
