Bryonia Alba appears in 12 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.
“White Bryony, Wild Hop. (Cucurbitaceae.) Is best adapted to persons of gouty or rheumatic diathesis; prone to so- called bilious attacks . Bryonia patients are irritable, inclined to be vehement and angry; dark or black hair, dark complexion, firm muscular fibre; dry, nervous, slender people (Nux). Pains: stitching…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Bryonia alba, Linn. Natural order , Cucurbitaceæ. Common name , White Bryony; German , Zaunrebe. Preparation , Tincture of the root, procured before flowering. Authorities. 9 to 40, are from the daybooks of the Austrian provings, Œst. Zeit., 3, 1); 9 , Arneth, two provings with 20 to 220 drops of the tincture; 10 …”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Wild Hops (BRYONIA) Acts on all serous membranes and the viscera they contain. Aching in every muscle. The general character of the pain here produced is a stitching, tearing; worse by motion, better rest . These characteristic stitching pains, greatly aggravated by any motion, are found everywhere, but especially in…”
- Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“ACHING ADHESIVE, adherent, torn, loose, etc. (Comp. Sticky) ANGER, irritability fretfulness, bad temper, etc. (Comp. Emotions) ASCENDING, Agg. BALL. BLOOD SEPSIS, etc. BREATHING, DEEPLY, Agg. BROWNISH, rusty, etc. BURSTING, SPLITTING, ETC.(COMP. SHATTERED) CALCULI, atheroma, etc. CHEST, INTERNAL CHILLED, cold…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“Blood. CIRCULATION. Liver. SEROUS MEMBRANES: HEAD. CHEST. JOINTS. ABDOMEN. Motor apparatus: Nerves. Muscles. Right side. Lymphatics. Cellular tissue. MOTION: LEAST RAISING UP. STOOPING. EXERTION. COUGHING. DEEP BREATHING. Dry: Heat. Cold. HOT: BECOMING. ROOM. Weather. Drinking, while hot. EATING. Vegetables. Acids…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“alba. White Bryony. N. O. Cucurbitaceæ. Tincture of root procured before flowering. Alcoholism / Amenorrhœa / Anger, effects of / Aphthæ / Apoplexy / Asthma / Bilious attack / Brain, affections of / Breast, inflamed / Bronchitis / Cancer / Chill, effects of / Chlorosis / Constipation / Consumption / Coryza / Cough /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“White Bryony. Cucurbitaceæ. The juice of the fresh root before flowering. Proved by Hahnemann and published in 1816 in second part of his Materia Medica ; 208 of his own symptoms, 102 from students, Mishler, Hornburg, Rückert and Stapf and one of Nicolai. In 1824, second volume of second edition : 537 of his own and…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Bryonia Alba Generalities: Every medicine has a sphere of action, a peculiar nature whereby it differs from all other medicines, and hence it becomes suitable to complaints of one class and not suitable to those of another. It is like the nature of human beings, as they differ from each other, and also like the nature…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Exceedingly irritable and inclined to be angry. Restlessness, with fear of the future; fear of death, which he thinks is near. Despair of recovery. Delirium at night of the business of the day. Unconsciousness. After having been angry he is chilly; has a red face and heat in the head. Giddiness, with sensation of…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common names: white bryony; wild hop. Rheumatic pains in the limbs with tension; aggravated by motion and contact. Stiffness in the joints (Amm-M., Bell., Caust., Colch., Rhus-T.). Oversensitiveness of the senses to external impressions (Bell., Coff., Nux-V.). AN IRRITABLE MOOD AND INCLINED TO BE ANGRY (Nat-M…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“All complaints < on motion. Dryness of mucous membranes generally (lips, mouth, stomach, wants drink in large quantities, at long intervals, intestines; dry hard stools as if burnt). Effusions in serous membranes (meninges, pleura, peritoneum, etc.). Constipation (no desire) or diarrhoea, < mornings on beginning to…”