 Tormentil |
TORMENTIL POTENTILLA ERECTA (= P.
TORMENTILLA) Excellent to stay all kinds of fluxes of blood or humours in man or woman, whether at nose, mouth or belly. A plant with long narrow leaves, serrated at the ends. The flowers are small and yellow with four parts. Where to find it: Grassland, mountains, heaths and bogs. Flowering time: Early to midsummer. Astrology: This is a herb of the Sun. Medicinal virtues: The juice of the herb or root, or a decoction taken with treacle, and the person laid to sweat, expels venom or poison, or the plague, fever or other contagious diseases. It is an ingredient in all antidotes or counter-poisons. The root taken inwardly is most efficacious to help any flux in the belly, stomach, spleen or blood. The juice opens obstructions of the liver and lungs and thereby helps the jaundice. It is powerful in ruptures and bruises or falls, used outwardly or inwardly. The root with Pellitory of Spain and Alium, put into the hollow of a tooth, assuages the pain and stays the flux of the humours which causes it. It is also an effectual remedy against outward wounds, sores and hurts, as well as inward, and is therefore a special ingredient in drinks for wounds, lotions and injections, for foul corrupt rotten sores and ulcers of the mouth, or the secret parts of the body. Modern uses: The root contains tannin and if chewed occasionally it hardens the gums and keeps the mouth healthy. The astringency of the root is useful for simple diarrhoea. One ounce (28 g) of the root is infused in 1 pt (568 ml) of boiling water and given in doses of 2 fl oz (56 ml). The infusion may be used externally as a lotion for ulcers, as an injection for leucorrhoea and as a gargle for a sore throat. For a stronger medicine, the root is boiled in 11/2 Pt (852 ml) of water until it measure 1 Pt (568 ml) and then strained for use. |