Solanum carolinense
Made from the horse nettle — the prickly nightshade of the American fields, its solanine the genuine chemistry of the family's toxicity, and the classical remedy of the children's spasms.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a child's body seized by spasms: the convulsions and spasmodic complaints of the books' children's chapter, the stiff, cramping frame, the prickly nightshade of the American fields — the horse nettle's genuine solanine behind the portrait. The children's-spasm nightshade: that is Solanum.
The substance, in plain words
The horse nettle is the prickly nightshade of the American fields, its yellow berries carrying solanine — the same genuine glycoalkaloid chemistry as the family's other poisons, documented in the toxicology of the nightshades. The proving gave the berry the children's-spasm portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety and fear. The terror of the child's spasms, worse at night.
- Irritability. Cross, fretful, worse from the constant discomfort.
- Restlessness. The books record the restless, spasmodic child of the chapter.
The body
- Convulsions and spasms of children. The keynote: the convulsive, spasmodic states of the young — the books' great use of the horse nettle.
- Stiff, cramping frame. The stiffness and cramping of the same chapter.
- Nightshade-family shading. The family's dryness and the solanine's motor action in a mild mirror.
- Worse cold damp and night. Wet weather and night deepen the spasms.
- Better for warmth and rest. Warmth and rest ease the horse-nettle state.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| cold damp weather; night; emotional excitement. | warmth; rest; quiet. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Nervous system (spasms, convulsions) of the young, general vitality.
Where the classical picture comes from
The field nightshade's proving gave the children's-spasm portrait; Solanum carolinense became the classical remedy of the spasmodic young — the prickly horse nettle serving the convulsions its solanine mirrors.
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.
Solanine is genuinely the nightshade family's chemistry — the glycoalkaloid of the green potato and the horse nettle, documented in every toxicology of the family, a real, well-understood poison. The spasms it portrayed are now paediatric neurology's, treated with real, effective anticonvulsants; the berry's chemistry is real and the reason it is never eaten.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Cuprum metallicum | Spasms and cramps | Cuprum's cramps end the cough in spasm and blue the face; Solanum's are the children's chapter of the nightshade family. |
| Cicuta virosa | Convulsions | Cicuta's arch in rigid opisthotonos; Solanum's are the children's spasms of the solanine chapter. |
| Bufo rana | Convulsive states | Bufo's is the aura and the fixed stare; Solanum's the solanine family's young. |
| Belladonna | Nightshade family | Belladonna is the hot, red, dry one; Solanum carolinense the prickly field-berry of the same family's spasms. |