Cypripedium
Made from the lady's slipper — the orchid of the northern woods, the Eclectic nervine of the children's shelf, and the classical remedy of the nervous excitability of the young.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a child too excited for its own good: the nervous excitability and sleeplessness of the books' children's chapter, the irritation and the restlessness, and the orchid of the northern woods the Eclectics dug for the young. The children's nervine orchid: that is Cypripedium.
The substance, in plain words
The lady's slipper is the orchid of the northern woods, its root a genuine Eclectic nervine of the children's shelf — used for the over-excited, sleepless young across the old American school, its chemistry genuinely calming. The proving gave the orchid the children's-excitement portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Nervous excitability of the young. The keynote of the mind: the over-excited, irritable child — the books' great use of the orchid.
- Sleeplessness from irritation. The books' second use — the child too irritated to sleep.
- Anxiety and fear. Worry and startle, worse at night.
The body
- Restlessness and irritation. The books record the restless, irritable, over-stimulated young.
- Sleeplessness. The sleeplessness of the nervous child of the chapter.
- Worse the evening and excitement. The evening and the stimulation bring the state on.
- Better for quiet and rest. Quiet, rest and the gentle nervine's course ease the young nerve.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| evening and night; excitement; the least stimulation. | quiet; rest; warmth. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Mind and nerves of the young, sleep, general vitality.
Where the classical picture comes from
The Eclectic orchid's proving gave the children's-excitement portrait; Cypripedium became the classical remedy of the over-wrought young — the lady's slipper of the woods serving the children's shelf it was dug for.
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.
The lady's slipper's real career is the Eclectic children's nervine — genuinely used for the over-excited young, its chemistry calming, its modern career ended by its rarity as much as by better medicine. The sleepless, over-stimulated child is now paediatrics' and the sleep clinic's; the orchid's chemistry is honest, its portrait's answers modern.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Chamomilla | Cross, teething child | Chamomilla is the furious teether with the hot cheek; Cypripedium the over-excited, sleepless one. |
| Coffea cruda | Sleepless excitement | Coffea is the joy-racing sleeplessness; Cypripedium the irritation-born one of the children's chapter. |
| Passiflora incarnata | The calmatives | Passiflora is the gentle over-wrought one of any age; Cypripedium the orchid of the young. |
| Valeriana officinalis | Nervous restlessness | Valeriana is the changeable, trembling one; Cypripedium the children's nervine of the same shelf. |