 |
ORACH ATRIPLEX PATULA It cures headaches, wandering pains, and the first attacks of rheumatism. A fairly common annual growing three or four feet (0.8 to 1.2 m) high with whitish stalks, faint green leaves and greenish-white flowers. It is also known as Arrach, of which there are several varieties - Orache or Iron Root. Where to find it: Waste places, roadsides, cultivated ground. It prefers clay or heavy soils. Flowering time: Midsummer to early autumn. Astrology: It is under Venus. Medicinal virtues: The seeds are gathered when just ripe and a pound (450 g) of them, bruised, is placed in three quarts (3.4 1) of moderate strength spirit. The whole is left to stand for six weeks, affording a light and not unpleasant tincture. A tablespoonful of the tincture, taken in a cup of water-gruel, has the same effect as a dose of lpecacuanha, except that its operation is milder and it does not bind the bowels afterwards. After taking the dose, the patient should go to bed. A gentle sweat will follow, carrying off whatever offending matter the motions have dislodged, thus preventing long disease. As some stomachs are harder to move than others, a second tablespoonful may be taken if the first does not perform its office. Modern uses: The herb can be eaten boiled like greens or used in salads. The seeds are not used in herbal practice. lpecacuanha is used as an emetic and added to medicines to prevent an overdose being taken. In smallish doses it induces sweating and expectoration of mucus. |