by Carroll Dunham — Lectures on Materia Medica
MILLEFOIL. YARROW.
THIS wayside drug produces haemorrhage from all the mucous surfaces. The haemorrhage is painless, and the blood very light colored and fluid.
In painless drainings from the uterus (or nose or lungs) after labor, after abortion, or when an abortion threatens, if the blood be bright and there are no pains in the joints, Millefolium does good. So sometimes it checks too profuse menstruation.
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Millefolium appears in 14 of the 21 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.
“Yarrow. (Compositae.) Ailments: from over-lifting, over-exertion, or a fall. Vertigo; when moving slowly, but not when taking violent exercise. Haemorrhages: painless, without fever; bright red, fluid blood (Acon., Ipec., Sab.); from lungs, bronchi, larynx, mouth, nose, stomach, bladder, rectum, uterus; of mechanical…”
“Achillea millefolium, L. Natural order , Compositæ. Common names , Yarrow, Milfoil; (G.), Schaafgabe; (Fr.), la mille-feuille. Preparation , Tincture of the plant. Authorities. "O," from Hering, effect of 3 drops of tincture; 8 , Berens, from Hering, effect of 8 drops of tincture; 9 , Linnæus, Flor. Suec., p. 299…”
“Yarrow An invaluable remedy for various types of hæmorrhages; blood bright red. Incarcerated hernia; smallpox, with great pain in pit of stomach. After operations for stone. Bad effects from fall from a height; overlifting. Continued high temperature . Hæmoptysis. Vertigo when moving slowly. Sensation as if he had…”
“DISCHARGES, vicarious HEMORRHAGE, bloody discharges”
“CAPILLARIES: LUNGS. Nose. Uterus. Injury. Violent exertion. Bleeding. Discharges. Bruised soreness. Congestion. Profuse, painless, bright red, fluid hæmorrhage; nosebleed, hæmoptysis (Aco. Led.), etc. Spasms after suppressed secretions, menses, etc. .................... Flatulent colic. Oppression of chest, with…”
“Achillea millefolium. Yarrow. N. O. Compositæ. Tincture of whole fresh plant. Asthma / Cancer / Chlorosis / Consumption / Dentition / Diarrhœa / Dysmenorrhœa / Enuresis / Epilepsy / Fistula lachrymalis / Hæmatemesis / Hæmaturia / Hæmoptysis / Hæmorrhages / Hypochondriasis / Hysteria / Leucorrhœa of children / Lochia…”
“is of interest to you as being a remedy in haemorrhages from the lungs or bowels, of mechanical origin. The flow of blood is usually bright red. It is distinguished from Aconite by the absence of anxiety.”
“Yarrow. Compositæ. A plant known to the ancients, mentioned by Homer in the Iliad, where Chiron instructs Achilles in the art of surgery ; it was named by Linneus, Achillea Millefolium. The plant is common in old fields, along fences, on borders of woods and cultivated grounds, produces a dense corymb of whitish…”
“MILLEFOLIUM. Ach'iUea MiiUfiliumy L. Milfoil, yarrow. NaL Ord., Cimppsilm. I. Provirtgi. — i. Dr. Hering look 5 dr. of tinct. on m. of Feb. land, 1851.— Everything that cro&sts him at dinner, or in evenings, when he wishes to be at case, makes him violent and irascible ; great aversion to all business; it constantly…”
“Veins: This is a most useful remedy in varicose veins; especially are the capillaries spongy and enlarged. Veins break easily when congested. Wounds bleed easily and much. It favors apoplexy. Ecchymoses of the skin and eyes. It favors local congestions. Hemorrhage from any part, from wounds, from ulcers. Atony of the…”
“Very excited, with pain in the pit of the stomach. Sighing and groaning of children. Vertigo when moving slowly, walking, but not when taking violent exercise, with nausea when stooping, not when lying down. Sensation as if all the blood ascended to the head. Violent headache, with twitching of the eyelids and muscles…”
“Common name: yarrow. It stands at the head of the long list of our remedies for hæmorrhages (Bt.). Ailments from over-lifting, over-exertion, or a fall (Arn., Rhus-T., Sulph-Ac.) (A.). Vertigo when moving slowly, but not when taking violent exercise (A.). Hæmorrhage, from the nose, lungs, kidneys, bowels and sexual…”
“Millefolium is the only one of the three that has seemed to have produced hæmorrhages in its pathogenesis. Hahnemann says of it: “It causes nose-bleed. It causes hæmaturia.” Clinical use has verified it. The blood from the different organs is generally bright red, like that of Aconite, but the anxiety of that remedy…”
Kent's Repertory lists Millefolium in 335 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (52), HEAD (49), FEMALE GENITALIA (24), MIND (22), CHEST (19).
