by Henry N. Guernsey — Key-Notes to the Materia Medica
Very sick headaches, with vomiting of a sweetish substance; in some fevers where there is great stomach derangement and great prostration.
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Iris versicolor appears in 11 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.
“Iris versicolor, Linn. Natural order , Iridaceæ. Common name , Blue Flag. Authorities. Note: Probably the mongrel so-called resinoid, there being no alkaloids known to exist in the natural order Iridaceæ. -T. F. A.; repeated doses of 1st dec. trit. to 20 grains of crude; 6 , Dr. William A. Holcombe, proving with 2 or…”
“Blue Flag Thyroid, pancreas , salivary, intestinal glands, and gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, are especially affected. Increases the flow of bile. Sick headaches and cholera morbus are a special therapeutic field for its action. Frontal headache, with nausea. Scalp feels constricted. Right temples especially…”
“ALTERNATING EFFECTS, sides, states, etc.(Comp. Periodicity, Wandering, Waves). BURNT, SCALDED AS IF COATED FEELING GREASY, oily, fatty LYING, right, Agg. MIGRAINE NERVE PAIN SEASON, Summer, hot weather SIDE, Right YELLOW 3 A.M.”
“GLANDS: DIGESTIVE TRACT. LIVER. Pancreas. Right side. Nerves. Periodically: Weekly. 2-3 A.M. Spring and fall. After midnight. Mental exhaustion. Hot weather. Gentle motion. Affections accompanied by rapid elimination. Sour, acrid, BURNING excretions. Oily nose, greasy taste and fatty stool. …”
“Iris hexagona. Blue flag. N. O. Iridaceæ. Tincture of fresh root collected in early spring or autumn. Trituration of the resinoid, Iridin or Irisin. Anus, fissure of / Bilious attack / Constipation / Crusta lactea / Diabetes / (pancreatic) / Diarrhœa / Dysentery / Dysmenorrhœa / Dyspepsia / Eczema / Fistula /…”
“{Blue Flag.) Description. — An indigenous plant, with a fleshy, horizontal, fibrous root, or rhizoma. It is common throughout the United States, growing in moist places, and presenting blue or purple flowers from May to July. The root resembles that of Acorus calamus (sweet-flag). It has a peculiar odor, augmented by…”
“Blue Flag. Iridaceæ. Provings by Rowland, Burt, Holcombe, Berridge, Croker, Wesselhœft, etc. See Allen's Encyclopædia, vol. 5, p. 153 . CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Headache , Palmer, Raue's Rec., 1871, p. 179 ; Warren, A. H. O., vol. 1, p. 109 ; Sick headache , Kitchen, N. A. J. H., vol. 1, p. 464 ; Williamson, Raue's Rec…”
“Iris vers(colort L. Blue flag. Nat. Ord., IrUatete. I. Provings, — I. a. Dr. W, A. BuRT, May 15th, 1865, took 3 gr, of green root at 3 and 8 p.m. No effect, save locally from acridity of substance, and an unwonted emission at n. with amorous dreams. 1 6th. — Mouth and tongue feel as if they had been scalded; natural…”
“Low-spirited; discouraged. Fear of an approaching illness. Fulness in and heaviness of the head. Head and face are cold. Headache (temples and eyes), with distressing vomiting (of a sweetish mucus, occasionally with a trace of bile). Sensation of constriction around the forehead (when trying to cough). Stitches in the…”
“Burning of mouth, tongue, throat, clear down into stomach, and of anus if there is diarrhoea. Vomiting of stringy, glairy, ropy mucus; hangs in strings down to receptacle on the floor. Gastric or hepatic sick headaches with blur before the eyes at the beginning. Vomiting sour, or bitter. Iris is another remedy which…”
Kent's Repertory lists Iris versicolor in 723 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (124), HEAD (122), STOMACH (66), ABDOMEN (51), RECTUM (41).
