Balsamum peruvianum
Made from Peruvian balsam — the fragrant resin that was an official expectorant and antiseptic of the old pharmacopoeias and still dresses wounds today.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a bronchitis that runs and runs: a chronic cough with profuse, purulent, copious mucus — yellow, sticky and free — in a thin, exhausted, itchy-skinned person whose whole remedy history is long. Chronic free-running purulent bronchitis: that is Balsamum peruvianum.
The substance, in plain words
Peruvian balsam is the dark fragrant resin of the Central American balsam tree — once exported to Europe as an official expectorant, antiseptic and wound dressing. It holds a real place in the pharmacopoeias to this day in wound care; its benzoic chemistry is authentically antiseptic.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Irritability of the chronic invalid. Cross, discouraged, worse in the long wet season.
- Anxiety about health. Despair of shaking the chronic cough.
- Dullness. Heavy mind with the exhausting expectoration.
The body
- Free purulent expectoration. The keynote: profuse, easy, yellowish mucus, not tenacious — the chronic bronchitis flows freely.
- Copious and exhausting. The quantity exhausts; the books pair it with emaciation.
- Worse damp and cold. Wet weather and night aggravate the cough.
- Itching skin with the chest. A pruritic, irritated skin accompanies — the resin's surface chemistry showing.
- Better warm drinks and rest. Warmth and lying comfortably ease the flow.
- Old standing bronchitis. The remedy of the 'chronic bronchitis of many winters' in the books.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| damp cold weather; night; exertion; winter. | warm drinks; rest; dry mild weather. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Bronchi and lungs (chronic bronchitis), skin (pruritic), general vitality.
Where the classical picture comes from
The official expectorant's resin chemistry gave the remedy its base: copious free mucus and irritated skin; the old books used it across the chronic winter coughs that filled the dispensaries of the damp-climate century.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Peruvian balsam is a real, surviving drug: it appears in wound dressings and some modern skin preparations — its benzoic antisepsis is genuine. As an expectorant it is retired, but the resin never fully left pharmacy; the remedy's source sits on today's shelves in bandage form.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Senega officinalis | Chronic chest, mucus | Senega's mucus is tough with sore walls; Balsamum's is free, copious and purulent. |
| Justicia adhatoda | Bronchitic cough | Justicia is acute and sneezy-onset; Balsamum the many-winters chronic. |
| Stannum metallicum | Weak chest cough | Stannum is too weak to raise; Balsamum raises freely and exhausts. |
| Ipecacuanha | Chest with nausea | Ipecac's chest is married to nausea; Balsamum's to volume and itch. |