Scrophularia
Made from the knotted figwort — the square-stemmed herb of the old herbals, and the classical remedy of the fistulous abscess and the piles.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a fistula that will not close: the fistulous abscesses of the books, the chronic piles of the same chapter, the swollen glands and the urinary complaints, and the knotted herb the old herbals named for the scrofula it served. The figwort remedy: that is Scrophularia.
The substance, in plain words
The knotted figwort is the square-stemmed herb of the old herbals, its very name from the scrofula it was given for — a genuine astringent and lymphatic of the folk dispensary, its iridoid chemistry modest but real. The proving gave the figwort the fistula-and-piles portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety about health. Worry over the fistula, the piles, the chronicity, worse at night.
- Irritability. Cross from the constant discomfort.
- Despondency. Gloomy in the chronic, recurrent states.
The body
- Fistulous abscesses. The keynote: the fistulous, non-closing abscesses of the books' surgical chapter.
- Chronic piles. The books' second use — the chronic hemorrhoids of the same chapter.
- Swollen glands and urinary complaints. The books add the swollen glands and the urinary irritation of the figwort chapter.
- Worse cold damp and night. Wet weather and night deepen the fistula and the piles.
- Better for the herb's course and rest. The slow astringent course and rest ease the figwort state.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| cold damp weather; night; exertion; stool. | the herb's course; rest; warmth. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Fistulas and abscesses, rectum and piles, glands, urinary tract.
Where the classical picture comes from
The scrofula-herb's proving gave the fistula-and-piles portrait; Scrophularia became the classical remedy of the non-closing abscess and the chronic piles — the figwort named for the glands serving the fistulas of the same 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.
The figwort's real career is the folk dispensary's lymphatic — its name a record of the scrofulous era it served, its chemistry modest and honest. The fistulas it portrayed are now surgery's, closed by the modern surgeon's clean methods; the herb's career is the history of the lymphatic shelf.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Collinsonia canadensis | Piles and pelvic | Collinsonia's alternate with the bowels and prickle; Scrophularia's are the chronic ones with the fistula. |
| Silicea | Fistulas and slow healing | Silicea ripens and expels the foreign bodies; Scrophularia is the fistula chapter itself. |
| Hepar sulphuris | Abscesses | Hepar's are touchy, fast-ripening ones; Scrophularia's the chronic, fistulous ones. |
| Aesculus hippocastanum | Piles | Aesculus' are purple and backaching; Scrophularia's the chronic ones of the figwort chapter. |