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Herbal Medicinal Properties Index

Wild Lettuce: Lactuca canadensis / Lactuca virosa

Mrs. M. Grieve: ---Medicinal Action and Uses---The drug resembles a feeble opium without its tendency to upset the digestive system. It is used to a small extent as a sedative and narcotic.

Dissolved in wine it is said to be a good anodyne.

Dr. Collins stated that twenty-three out of twenty-four cases of dropsy were cured by taking doses of 18 grains to 3 drachms of extract in twenty-four hours. It is used in Germany in this complaint, but combined with more active drugs. It is said to be also a mild diaphoretic and diuretic, easing colic, inducing sleep and allaying cough.

Water distilled from lettuce (eau de laitre) is used in France as a mild sedative in doses of 2 to 4 OZ., and the fresh leaves boiled in water are sometimes used as a cataplasm.

Moderate doses given to the lower animals act as a narcotic poison, an injection having even caused death.

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Herbal Properties Index

Wild Yam: Dioscorea Villosa

Mrs. M. Grieve: ---Medicinal Action and Uses---Antispasmodic. Perhaps the best relief and promptest cure for bilious colic, especially helpful in the nausea of pregnant women. Valuable also in painful cholera morbus with cramps, neuralgic affections, spasmodic hiccough and spasmodic asthma.

Editor: Principally used in modern times for various female complaints.

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Herbal Properties Index

Witchhazel: Hamamelis Virginiana

Mrs. M. Grieve: ---Medicinal Action and Uses---The properties of the leaves and bark are similar, astringent, tonic, sedative, valuable in checking internal and external haemorrhage, most efficacious in the treatment of piles, a good pain-killer for the same, useful for bruises and inflammatory swellings, also for diarrhoea, dysentery and mucous discharges.

It has long been used by the North American Indians as poultices for painful swellings and tumours.

The decoction has been utilized for incipient phthisis, gleet, ophthalmia, menorrhagia and the debilitated state resultingfrom abortion.

A tea made of the leaves or bark may be taken freely with advantage, being good for bleeding of the stomach and in complaints of the bowels, and an injection of this tea is excellent for inwardly bleeding piles, the relief being marvellous and the cure speedy. An ointment made of 1 part fluid extract of bark to 9 parts simple ointment is also used as a local application, the concentration Hamamelin being also employed, mainly in the form of suppositories.

Witch Hazel has been supposed to owe its utility to an action on the muscular fibre of veins. The distilled extract from the fresh leaves and young twigs forms an excellent remedy for internal or external uses, being beneficial for bleeding from the lungs and nose, as well as from other internal organs. In the treatment of varicose veins, it should be applied on a lint bandage, which must be constantly kept moist: a pad of Witch Hazel applied to a burst varicose vein will stop the bleeding and often save life by its instant application.

Pond's Extract of Witch Hazel was much used in our grandmother's days as a general household remedy for burns, scalds, and inflammatory conditions of the skin generally and it is still in general use.

In cases of bites of insects and mosquitoes a pad of cotton-wool, moistened with the extract and applied to the spot will soon cause the pain and swelling to subside.

Diluted with warm water, the extract is used for inflammation of the eyelids.

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Herbal Properties Index

Wormwood: Artemisia Absinthium

Mrs. M. Grieve: ---Medicinal Action and Uses---Tonic, stomachic, febrifuge, anthelmintic.

A nervine tonic, particularly helpful against the falling sickness and for flatulence. It is a good remedy for enfeebled digestion and debility.

Editor: Cheifly used as a vermicide/vermifuge in modern times.

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Herbal Properties Index

Mrs. M. Grieve: ---Medicinal Action and Uses---Diaphoretic, astringent, tonic, stimulant and mild aromatic.

Yarrow Tea is a good remedy for severe colds, being most useful in the commencement of fevers, and in cases of obstructed perspiration. The infusion is made with 1 OZ. of dried herb to 1 pint of boiling water, drunk warm, in wineglassful doses. It may be sweetened with sugar, honey or treacle, adding a little Cayenne Pepper, and to each dose a teaspoonful of Composition Essence. It opens the pores freely and purifies the blood, and is recommended in the early stages of children's colds, and in measles and other eruptive diseases.

A decoction of the whole plant is employed for bleeding piles, and is good for kidney disorders. It has the reputation also of being a preventative of baldness, if the head be washed with it.

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Herbal Properties Index

Yellowdock: Rumex crispus

Mrs. M. Grieve: ---Medicinal Action and Uses---The Yellow Dock is applicable to all the purposes for which the other species are used. The root has laxative, alterative and mildly tonic action, and can be freely used as a tonic and laxative in rheumatism, bilious complaints and as an astringent in piles, bleedings of the lungs, etc. It is largely prescribed for diseases of the blood, from a spring eruption, to scurvy, scrofula and chronic skin diseases. It is also useful in jaundice and as a tonic to the stomach and the system generally. It has an action on the bowels very similar to that of Rhubarb, being perhaps a little less active, but operating without pain or uneasiness.

Rumicin is the active principle of the Yellow Dock, and from the root, containing Chrysarobin, a dried extract is prepared officially, of which from 1 to 4 grains may be given for a dose in a pill. This is useful for relieving a congested liver, as well as for scrofulous skin diseases.

A syrup can be made by boiling 1/2 lb. crushed root in a pint of syrup, which is taken in teaspoonful doses. The infusion administered in wineglassful doses - is made by pouring 1 pint of boiling water on 1 OZ. of the powdered root. A useful homoeopathic tincture is made from the plant before it flowers, which is of particular service to an irritable tickling cough of the upper air-tubes and the throat. It is likewise excellent for dispelling any obstinate itching of the skin. It acts like Sarsaparilla for curing scrofulous skin affections and glandular swellings.

To be applied externally for cutaneous affections, an ointment may be made by boiling the root in vinegar until the fibre is softened and then mixing the pulp with lard.

The seeds have been given with advantage in dysentery, for their astringent action.

The Yellow Dock has also been considered to have a positive effect in restraining the inroads made by cancer in the human system, being used as an alterative and tonic to enfeebled condition caused by necrosis, cancer, etc. It has been used in diphtheria.

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Herbal Properties Index

Yohimbe: Corvanthe Yohimibe

James F. Balch, M.D.: A hormone stimulant. Increases libido and blood flow to erectile tissue. May increase testosterone levels. Dr. Balch adds: Caution: May induce panic attacks and hallucinations in some individuals. May also cause elevated blood pressure and heart rate, headache, dizziness, and skin flushing. Should not be used by women or by persons with kidney disease or psychological disorders.

Editor: While Dr. Balch’s cautions doubtless have some validity, yet my investigations led me to believe that such reactions were extremely rare. The claim that it should not be used by women is also believed to be unjustified, though this herb is more commonly used by men. Again: do your own homework, and make up your own mind.

James Green, Herbalist: Yohimbe has a strong aphrodisiac effect, believed to be due to stimulation of the lower centeres in the spinal cord. Some researchers feel this is due rather to the hyperermia (blood engorement, in this case in the pelvic area) produced. Thought to be of no value when impotence stems from organic nerve trouble, and it is said by some to be harmful when it is used for impotence that is caused by chronic infamatory disease of the sexual organs or of the prostate (U. S. Dispensatory, 24th ed.). "Its actions apppear to go directly to the sexual centers of the spinal cord increasing tonicity. Impotence of a functional origin (neurasthenic impotence) appears to be directly affected by its use. It is useful where there is diminished excitability of the sexual centeres. In cases where there is a sudden failure of power, producing despondency, foreboding and general mental depression, in young mairried men, it is satisfactory." (Mr. Green's source: Ellingwood)

Mr. Green cautions that more needs to be learned about his plant, and to abstain from its use with pharmaceuticals and alcohol.

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Herbal Properties Index

Yucca: Yucca filimentosa

James F. Balch, M.D.: Acts as a blood purifier. Beneficial in treatment of arthritis, osteoporosis, and inflammatory disorders. Routinely prescribed for arthritis in some clinics.

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Herbal Properties Index