This is an herbaceous plant having an aromatic odor, with an erect and ramose stem, about 16 or 20 inches high; it is pubescent, quadrangular and grooved towards the upper branches. Leaves opposite, oval, finely indented, on petioles of the same length, as the limbs of the leaves. Flowers whorled, forming terminal spikes; each whorl is provided with two foliaceous bracts. Calix with five divisions, the upper being oval, large and entire; the other four are sharp and inferior. Corol tubulous, inverted, with a bilabiate limb; the upper lip divided into four lobes; the lower lip composed of a single lobe, which is longer. Stamens four, with free and outward-bent filaments, and two other stamens, which are shorter and somewhat geniculate at their base; style filiform and bifid. Root vertical, fibrous, rather ramose. We use the leaves.
The ocimum canum is destined to become one of the most important remedial agents in Brazil, where it is used as a specific for the diseases of the kidneys, bladder and urethra. Those who wish to devote themselves to our art, had better set about proving this drug.
1. Turbid urine, depositing a white and albuminous sediment. Burning during micturition. Urine of a saffron color. Diarrhœa, several attacks a day. 5. Crampy pain in the kidneys. Renal colic, with violent vomiting every 15 minutes; one wrings one’s hands, and moans and cries all the time. Red urine with brick-dust sediment after the attack. Itching at the breasts. Engorgement of the mammary glands. 10. The tips of the breasts are very painful; the least contact extorts a cry. Compressive pain in the breast, as is the case with wet-nurses. Dreams about being poisoned. Dreams about her parents, friends, children. Lancinations in the labia majora. Swelling of the whole vulva. 15. Falling of the vagina, so as to issue even from the vulva. Thick, purulent urine, with an intolerable smell of musk. Swelling of the inguinal glands. Heat, swelling and excessive sensibility of the left testicle. Numbness of the right thigh, for two days.
SOLANUM ARREBENTA. (Vell.)
SOL. AR. PORTUG.: ARREBENTA CAVALLOS.
This bush grows spontaneously in the provinces of Rio Janeiro, along roads and in cultivated places. It is from 10 to 16 inches high; its branches which bifurcate regularly, are, while young, covered with strong thorns growing from above downwards. Leaves slightly pubescent, cordate, with five obtuse lobes; their nerves are furnished with a few irregularly distributed thorns. The flowers are supported by peduncles arising from the axils of the leaves in groups of two or three. Calix with five parts, very prickly on the outside; corol with five divisions; five stamens; a style. Berry red, fleshy, with two chambers, containing a large number of small seeds. Roots fibrous, arising from a common rhizoma. We use the leaves.
1. Loss of appetite. Superficial ulceration below the left nipple. Vertigo after bathing. Painful boil below the right axilla. 5. Pain at the pectoralis major. Suppuration of the boils. Headache. Slight fever. Swelling of the stomach. 10. Difficult digestion. Urticaria. Dreams about quarrels and murders. Waking with a start. Doughy mouth in the morning. 15. Constant thirst. Impatient and irritated by trifling causes. Redness of the face, and rush of blood to the brain. Flash of heat all over. Paleness and greenish color of the skin after a few days of proving. 20. Swelling of the axillary glands. Lancinations in the breasts. Glandular tumor in the right breast.
ILLICIUM ANISATUM.
ANISUM STELLATUM.
Both the illicium anisatum and the millefolium, which have been introduced into our practice empirically, will undoubtedly become important adjuncts in the homœopathic materia medica, the former in gastric affections, the latter in those of the chest. We publish the following symptoms in the hope of facilitating their employment in the treatment of disease.