China 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.
“Peruvian Bark (Rubiaceae) For stout, swarthy persons; for systems, once robust, which have become debilitated, "broken down" from exhausting discharges (Carbo v.). Apathetic, indifferent, taciturn (Phos. ac.); despondent, gloomy, has no desire to live, but lacks courage to commit suicide. Ailments: from loss of vital…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Cinchona officinalis, Hooker. Nat. order , Rubiaceæ; Common names , China (Ch. hard), Quinquina, Cortex Peruvianus (Peruvian bark). Preparation , Tincture of the bark (or triturations). Authorities.”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Peruvian Bark-China (CINCHONA OFFICINALIS) Debility from exhausting discharges, from loss of vital fluids, together with a nervous erethism , calls for this remedy. Periodicity is most marked. Sensitive to draughts. Seldom indicated in the earlier stages of acute disease. Chronic gout. Chronic suppurative pyelitis…”
- Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“ACHING APPETITE, CHANGED BLACK, dark, etc. BLOOD SEPSIS, etc. BONES. BURSTING, splitting, etc.(Comp. Shattered) CALCULI, atheroma, etc. CHEST, internal CHILLY, cold COATED FEELING COITION, Agg. COLDNESS, Partial CONSTRICTION, tight band, gathered together, squeezing, etc. COUGH. COUGH, incessant DIGESTION AFFECTED…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“BLOOD. CIRCULATION. SECRETIONS: Digestive. Organs. Liver. Spleen. Nerves. VITAL LOSSES. TOUCH. Jar. Noise. PERIODICALLY: Alternate days (Ars. Nat-m.). Cold; drafts; wind. Open air. Eating; fruit; milk. Mental exertion. Hard pressure (Lach.). Loose clothes. INTERMITTENCY. PROFUSE, EXHAUSTING DISCHARGES, HÆMORRHAGES…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Cinchona officinalis. Cinchona calisaya. Peruvian bark. N. O. Rubiaceæ. Tincture of the dried bark. Abscess / Alcoholism / Amblyopia / Anæmia / Aphthæ / Apoplexy / Appetite, disordered / Asthma / Back, weakness of / Bilious attack / Catarrhal affections / Coma / Constipation / Cough / Debility / Delirium / Diarrhœa /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“1. Cinchona Calisaya, also called Cinchona Regia or Cinchona Flava, Royal or genuine yellow bark. 2. Cinchona de Huanuco, grey or silver Cinchona ; and, 3. Cinchona Rubra, or Red Cinchona.”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Now we shall take up the study of Cinchona, or China. Persons who have suffered much from neuralgias due to malarial influences, who have become anaemic and sickly from repeated haemorrhages, are likely to develop symptoms calling for China. China produces a gradually increasing anaemia, with great pallor and…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Indifference and apathy. Disposition to be alone. Ill-humor, with disposition to hurt other people's feelings. Nervous irritation, with slowness of ideas. Full of projects and ideas, especially in the evening and at night. Congestion of blood to the head, with twitching in the temples. Headache, from suppressed coryza.”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: peruvian bark. Headache, aggravated by a draft of air, in the open air, and from the slightest contact, and relieved by hard pressure. INTENSE THROBBING HEADACHE, AFTER EXCESSIVE HÆMORRHAGE (Carb-V., Ferr.) (Bt.). Over-sensitiveness, low-spirited with aversion to all noise (Coff., Nat-M., Nux-V., Sulph.)…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Debility and other complaints after excessive loss of fluids, blood-letting, etc. Hæmorrhages profuse, with faintness, loss of sight and ringing in the ears. Great flatulence, with sensation as if the abdomen were packed full; not > by eructation or passing flatus. Painless diarrhœa (yellow, watery, brownish…”
