Sinapis nigra
Made from black mustard — the seed of the kitchen's fiercest condiment, whose mustard-plaster chemistry genuinely blisters and decongests, and the classical remedy of the sneezing coryza.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a cold that bursts out sneezing: violent sneezing with watery streaming from the nose and eyes, the hot, flushed face of the early cold, the head heavy and dull — the books' great mustard-seed coryza. The sneezing-burst remedy: that is Sinapis nigra.
The substance, in plain words
Black mustard is the seed of the kitchen's fiercest condiment — its crushed seed releases allyl isothiocyanate, the genuine blistering and decongesting chemistry of the mustard plaster, used for centuries to draw congestion out of the chest. The proving gave the seed its coryza portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Irritability of the early cold. Cross, dull, worse in the evening with the streaming.
- Anxiety and dullness. The heavy mind of the early catarrh.
- Despondency. Gloomy in the dragging winter catarrhs.
The body
- Violent sneezing. The keynote: sneezing in sudden bursts, with the hot, flushed face of the early cold.
- Watery streaming of nose and eyes. The profuse, acrid, watery flow that follows the sneeze.
- Heavy, dull head. The congested, heavy forehead of the catarrh's first hours.
- Cough from the tickle. The books add the raw, tickling cough of the early chest.
- Worse evening and cold damp. The evening and the wet weather aggravate.
- Better for open air and warmth. Fresh air and warmth ease the streaming.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| evening; cold damp weather. | open air; warmth; rest. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Nose and sneeze-centre, eyes, respiratory mucosa, head.
Where the classical picture comes from
The kitchen-mustard's blistering chemistry gave the proving its sneezing portrait; Sinapis nigra became the classical remedy of the bursting, sneezing early cold — the plaster's own seed serving the coryza it clears.
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.
Mustard's allyl isothiocyanate is genuinely active — the chemistry of the plaster that decongested the chests of centuries, still studied as a counter-irritant, and the reason mustard plasters remain in living memory. The seed's real pharmacology is the portrait's foundation: hot, drawing, decongesting.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Sabadilla officinalis | Sneezing fits | Sabadilla's sneezes are triggered and paroxysmal; Sinapis' are the hot early cold. |
| Allium cepa | Watery coryza | Allium burns the nose with bland tears; Sinapis bursts with the hot flush. |
| Aconitum napellus | Early cold, sudden | Aconite is the frightened sudden onset; Sinapis the sneezing burst. |
| Euphrasia officinalis | Burning tears | Euphrasia's tears burn with the bland nose; Sinapis' stream is acrid and hot. |