Prunus virginiana

Volume I — Special Symptomatology

(Choke Cherry)

Botanical Description. — This is a small tree or shrub, from five to twenty feet high, growing in woods and hedges. Leaves smooth, oval, or egg-shaped, the broad extremity at base, sharp pointed, thin, not shining, with edge serrate, the teeth being oval-shaped and sharp, veins bearded on each side toward the base; the leaf-stalk with two glands. The flowers are in short, loose and spreading branches; petals circular and white, appearing in May; outer bark greyish; inner bark green; leaves two or three inches long. The fruit is abundant, of a dark red color, very astringent to the taste, but not disagreeable.

Officinal Preparation.— (1) Tincture of the inner bark; and dilutions to 3 x dilute alcohol : above, strong alcohol.

Analogues. — Digitalis, Laurocerasus, Lycopus, Collinsonia, Hydrocyanic acid, Amygdala, Ammonia, etc.

Head.

Heavy, dull feeling in the head.

Stomach.

• Dyspepsia, with tendency to acidification of food. ° Slow digestion, with pyrosis. ° Loss of appetite, with weak, intermittent pulse.

Generative Organs. 0 Debility from spermatorrhoea.

Chest.

0 Cough from functional or disease of the heart.

u Irregular and intermittent action of the heart, with deficient

impulse. ° Hypertrophy, with dilatation. 0 Pulse quick, weak and irregular.

° Debility after fever or any exhausting disease, especially in

heart affections. ° Whooping cough. ° Phthisis pulmonalis (palliative).

Fever.

0 Hectic fevers. ° Intermittent fevers. (?)

Skin.

° Ulcers. 0 Scrofula.

Volume II — Special Therapeutics

This tree, the inner bark of which is officinal, is also known as Prunus virginiana. There is another species known to botanists as Cerasus serotina (Prunus serotina). The latter is the common black wild cherry ; the former a red wild cherry, known as “ choke cherry.”

The plum and cherry family, as well as the peach and apricot, the bitter almond, and laurocerasus, all contain the elements from which hydrocyanic acid is evolved.

When properly prepared the infusions or tinctures of these agents all contain that acid, upon the presence of which nearly all of their peculiar effects on the heart depend. But the cherry family also contains Tannin, and a peculiar bitter principle, which resembles Cinchona somewhat. A cold infusion of the inner bark is the best preparation. If prepared by heat the acid is not formed. A tincture may be made which contains all its active principles ; but the fluid extracts and the so-called prunin and cerasin are frauds. They contain only the tannin and bitter principle.

From time immemorial the cold infusion has been in use for irregular and intermittent action of the heart, with deficient impulse. For this condition Hydrocyanic acid, Laurocerasus, Iberis and Amygdala are primarily homoeopathic; and Digitalis, Lycopus and Collinsonia are secondarily homoeopathic.

With the cold infusion in tablespoonful doses I have frequently removed the above abnormal condition of the heart’s action ; also the cough sympathetic with functional or organic disease of the heart.

It is a valuable palliative in quick, weak pulse, during convalescence from disease; during phthisis; and in hypertrophy of the heart with dilatation.

The tincture made with dilute alcohol has been useful in my practice for dyspepsia with tendency to acidity of the stomach; in

slow digestion with pyrosis ; loss of appetite , etc. It is all the more indicated in these affections if they are attended by weak, irritable heart I have found it much more efficacious when Pepsin (the saccharated powder) is given before each meal, followed by the Cerasus after meals.

I have known cases where excessive quantities of the infusion have caused a fulness, and a dull, heavy feeling in the head. This may have been due to the cardiac tonicity which it caused, and implies that we should not give the lower dilutions in concentric hypertrophy of the heart, or when real fever is present. In the higher dilutions it might prove useful for the symptoms mentioned.