Capsicum 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.
“Cayenne Pepper (Solanaccae) Persons with light hair, blue eyes, nervous but stout and plethoric habit. Phlegmatic diathesis; lack of reactive force, especially with fat people, easily exhausted; indolent, dreads any kind of exercise ; persons inclined to be jovial, yet angry at trifles. Children; dread open air…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Capsicum annuum, Linn. Nat. order , Solanaceæ. Common name , Cayenne, or red pepper. Preparation , Tincture of the powdered ripe pods, with the seeds; in the proportion of 20 grains of the powder to 400 drops of alcohol. (Hahnemann). Authorities. He makes reproaches and becomes angry at the faults of others; he…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Cayenne Pepper (CAPSICUM) Seems to suit especially persons of lax fiber, weak; diminished vital heat. A relaxed plethoric sluggish, cold remedy. Not much reactive force. Such persons are fat, indolent, opposed to physical exertion, averse to go outside of their routine, get homesick easily. General uncleanliness of…”
- Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“CHEST, backward in CHILLY, cold COUGH, painful CRACKING JOINTS DIRECTION of sensations, Downward DIRECTION of sensations, Radiating EARS FINE PAINS, needle, splinter, thread or hair-like, etc. HEAT, burning, etc. HEAT, partial, local, etc. LYING, Agg. LYING, bent or doubled up, Amel. MOTION, beginning, Agg…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“MUCOUS MEMBRANES. THROAT. Kidneys. Bones. Mastoids. SLIGHT DRAFTS. COLD: AIR. Water. Uncovering. Dampness. Bathing. Empty swallowing. Drinking: < throat, or excites urination. Eating. Drunkards. Continued motion. Lax, lazy fat, red (Asaf.), clumsy, unclean persons (Sul.), who react badly and dread the cold. Old age…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“annuum. Cayenne Pepper. (South America and West Indies.) N. O. Solanaceæ. Tincture of the dried pods. Amaurosis / Asthma / Brain, irritation of / Delirium tremens / Cough / Diarrhœa / Diphtheria / Dysentery / Ear affections / Glandular swellings / Hæmorrhoids / Headache / Heartburn / Hernia / Home-sickness /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Cayenne or red pepper. Solanaceæ. This plant is cultivated abundantly almost everywhere. The stem is smooth, thick and branching, rising to the height of two or three feet ; leaves are ovate and pointed ; flowers are solitary and white, standing on long peduncles ; the fruit is a pendulous pod, containing numerous…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Most of the substances that are used on the table as seasoning in foods will in the course of a generation or two be very useful medicines because people poison themselves with these substances, tea, coffee, pepper, and these poisonous effects in the parents cause in the children a predisposition to disease, which is…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Peevish, easily offended. Home-sickness, with redness of the cheeks and sleeplessness. Vertigo and giddiness, especially during the cold stage of the intermittent fever if the head would burst, with fulness. Pressing headache, as if the head would burst, with fulness, nausea, and vomiting; worse in the evening, -from…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: cayenne pepper. Phlegmatic temperament and laxness of the muscles (Calc.). TENDENCY TO GET FAT (Amm-M., Ant-C., Calc., Calc-Ars., Cupr., Ferr., Graph., Kali-B., Kali-C., Lac-D., Lyc., Nat-C., Sep.). Stiffness and painfulness of the joints, when beginning to move (Rhus-T.). CRACKLING OF THE JOINTS (Led…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Burning pains, especially in mucous membranes, or smarting, as from red pepper, on the parts. Cough with pains in distant parts, as head, bladder, knees, legs, etc. Chill or shuddering after every drink; begins between the shoulders and spreads all over. Capsicum is also a good remedy for dysentery, or the later stage…”
