Cicuta virosa
Made from water hemlock — the marsh poison whose cicutoxin drives the most violent convulsions in the plant kingdom, and the classical remedy of the rigid spasm.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a seizure of pure rigidity: sudden convulsions with the whole body arched and fixed, the eyes staring, the attack beginning with a jerk or a cry, worse for touch and noise and the slightest jar; and between the spasms, a strange fixedness of gaze and mind. The rigid spasm: that is Cicuta.
The substance, in plain words
Water hemlock is the tall umbellifer of wet places, its roots carrying cicutoxin — a genuinely violent convulsant, among the most dangerous plants in the temperate world, its poisonings swift and terrible. The proving gave the remedy the seizure's portrait in detail.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Fixedness before and after. A strange fixedness of gaze and attention before the spasm and after it — the books' characteristic observation.
- Anxiety and fear. Fear of death, of touch, worse in the quiet before the attack.
- Low spirits after. Depression and exhaustion in the intervals between the spasms.
The body
- Convulsions with opisthotonos. The keynote: violent convulsions with the body arched backward, rigid and fixed.
- Begins with a jerk or cry. The books record the sudden onset — a general jerk, a cry, then the rigidity.
- Worse touch, noise and jar. The least touch, sound or movement renews the spasm — the child must be left utterly still.
- Fixed staring eyes. The eyes stare and do not move — the quoted confirmatory sign.
- Biting of the tongue. The books add the tongue bitten and bloody during the convulsion.
- Worse during sleep. The attacks seize in sleep — the books' noted aggravation.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| touch; noise and light; jar and motion; sleep. | absolute stillness; quiet; darkness. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Nervous system (convulsions, rigidity), eyes, mind.
Where the classical picture comes from
The water-hemlock poisonings of field and fen — cattle and children both struck down — wrote the proving's portrait; Cicuta became the classical remedy of the rigid, arching convulsion, standing beside Cuprum and Hydrocyanic acid in the spasm chapter.
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.
Cicutoxin is a genuine, potent convulsant acting on the nervous system's inhibitory pathways — among the most-studied plant convulsants in toxicology, and the reason water hemlock is feared wherever it grows. No drug came of it; the chemistry is a poison, pure and thoroughly documented.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Cuprum metallicum | Convulsions | Cuprum's spasm cramps and blues the face; Cicuta's arches the whole body in rigidity. |
| Hydrocyanicum acidum | Convulsant family | Hydrocyanic's convulsions alternate and race the heart; Cicuta's fix in pure rigidity. |
| Belladonna | Sudden hot states | Belladonna is hot, red and throbbing; Cicuta is the arching spasm with the fixed stare. |
| Agaricus muscarius | Twitching and jerking | Agaricus twitches and jerks; Cicuta convulses in full rigidity. |