Cina maritima
Made from wormseed — the Artemisia of the dry steppes whose santonin was medicine's first reliable worm cure, and the classical remedy of the cross, grinding child.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a child at war with everyone: irritable, cross, cannot be touched or looked at without fury, grinds the teeth at night, picks at the nose and the seat, is ravenous yet emaciates, and twitches and starts in the restless sleep. The wormy, furious child: that is Cina.
The substance, in plain words
Cina — Artemisia cina of the Russian steppes — yields santonin, a genuinely effective vermifuge that was the standard worm treatment of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and a genuine poison in overdose: yellow vision, vomiting, convulsions, delirium.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Irritability at being touched. The keynote of the mind: furious when touched, carried, or even looked at — the books' classic 'don't touch me' child.
- Crossness and striking. Hits and bites; spiteful; worse in the evening and at night.
- Restless anger. Cannot be still, cannot be pleased; whines and rejects everything.
The body
- Teeth-grinding in sleep. The keynote: bruxism — the child grinds the teeth at night; the books pair it with the wormy state.
- Nose and seat picking. Constant picking at the nose and the anus — the era's signature of worms, now understood differently.
- Ravenous yet emaciated. Eats enormously, wastes away; the books' classic worm-consumption picture.
- Twitching and starting. Jerks and twitches in sleep; starts at the least sound.
- Itching of the nose and anus. The books record the itchy nose, the restless, rubbing bottom.
- Worse night and being looked at. Both aggravate — the evening crossness, the fury at observation.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| being touched; being looked at; night; rich food. | lying on the abdomen; rocking; open air |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Digestive tract and nutrition, nervous system (twitching), sleep, children's temperament.
Where the classical picture comes from
Santonin's real career — the era's worm cure with its yellow-vision toxicology — gave the proving its frame; clinically Cina attached to the irritable, grinding, picking child of every nineteenth-century nursery, where worms were universal and santonin the answer.
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.
Santonin was genuinely medicine's first dependable vermifuge — used worldwide until safer drugs arrived — and its overdose toxicology (xanthopsia, the world turning yellow) is one of pharmacology's most quoted poison pictures. Modern worm treatment is albendazole and mebendazole: cheap, safe, effective. The cross child it portrayed is now as likely to have a sleep or behavioural issue — and is assessed, not worm-dosed.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Chamomilla | Cross child, digestive upset | Chamomilla is teething rage better for carrying; Cina is the touch-me-not, grinding worm-child. |
| Antimonium crudum | Touchy child, coated tongue | Ant-c is the whitewashed-tongue, crusted one; Cina the grinding, picking one. |
| Ignatia amara | Contradictory states | Ignatia's contradictions are grief-born; Cina's are worm-born fury. |
| Zincum metallicum | Twitching, restlessness | Zinc twitches and fidgets, better for discharges; Cina grinds and picks, worse for touch. |