ON one of my long walks this spring my eyes were suddenly drawn to the thousands of white feathered flowers with the golden- centred eyes laughing up at me from the green sward of the meadows. My mind flew back to the days of long ago, when one of the childhood joys was to make daisy chains and wearing them proudly, plants were, for anything which can relieve and cure pain is priceless beyond word ; the common daisy which we walk upon carelessly so many times, is in spite of its humility, a great servant to mankind ; it is the royal remedy for over-worked old gardeners and land-workers, as somebody said.
The Common Daisy was well known to Chaucer centuries, ago who refers to it in these words :.
“Well, by reason men it call maie
The Daisie, or else the Eye of the Daisie”.
For the Eye of the Day only opens during the day ; when the daylight goes, the petals close up tight, and only the pink- tipped under surface shows. You will not find the name “Common Daisy” under our medicines ; in our books it lives under its Latin cognomen Bellis perennis, which is said to be derived from the Dryad Belidis, who presumably loved to decorate herself with these beautifying chains.
1 Some say this name comes from the Latin bellis, meaning beautiful ; so you can translate bellis perennis. as the perennial beauty ; for its beauty always with us all through the summer. It used to have a great reputation with the country people years ago as a cure for fresh wounds ; it is still known in some districts as “bruise wort” but its virtues have been forgotten and its stead iodine locally is now used. I looked up several modern and old herbals and could find no reference to the common daisy.
But Homoeopathy which overlooks nothing has once more reminded us of its long forgotten actions. We owe the recognition of the virtues of the daisy to the late famous Dr. Burnett, who experimented and proved so many out-of-the-world remedies. He is loud in his praises of the Days Eye, and gives many examples of the cures he performed with this humble flower ; cures of tumours caused by knocks and injuries, tumours of the breast, and of the uterus too, following on with injuries and cures of abdominal tumours following accidents.
That is why I have chosen to write on the Common Daisy, as its action is somewhat similar to the action is somewhat similar to the action of Arnica montana, it heals and cures conditions following bruises and knocks.
Dr. Burnett, for example, mentions a case of an abdominal tumour in a gentleman which had its origin in a fall on the left side, which fractured the ribs and the side had never been comfortable since, and for many months a large side, which fractured the ribs and the side had never been comfortable since, and for many months a large mass had developed in his abdomen, he was declared to be inoperable by six well-known surgeons, and indeed he was bedridden and extremely feeble, well over 60 years of age.
Burnett seized on the prominent symptoms, tumour coming on after a severe fall, and prescribed Bellis the splenic remedy par excellence and he alternated means of cure, and a rapid cure, or it would have been too late. Seventeen days later the man was able to visit Burnett with his wife in a cab and the tumour had greatly diminished in size, and the man had lost quantities of urine ; “it literally poured from him,” proving the homoeopathicity of the remedies prescribed ; for remedies act from within outwards and increases all secretions.
Ten weeks after the first dose of medicine all trace of the tumour had disappeared, and the cure remained permanent ; for the patient visited Dr. Burnett at frequent intervals for observation.
Where does the homoeopathicity of this case come on, asks Burnett. Let him read, he says, if anybody is in doubt, the homoeopathic provings of this same daisy, and it will be seen that it produces swellings precisely of this congestive exudative kind pathologically very like it, in fact ; and it any further doubt still obtains, let them make a tea of the daisy roots, leaves, flowers and all and drink a wineglass three times a day, and then they will not merely believe, but know.
There is nothing like the direct experiment on ones own vile body, he adds. Is anybody willing to do this experiment ? If so, I shall be glad to hear to any results which follow. Experimental provers, willing to prove the truthfulness of our claims are wanted, even in this year of grace, 1939.
And it is better for the good of humanity to experiment on ourselves, instead of experimenting on poor innocent guinea-pigs and rats and such like, who cannot raise an objection, and whose reactions are totally different to the reactions in the human body, let me add. Modern medicine has got itself into a blind alley by these animal experiments, and much ill-health, alas ! is produced and worse valuable lives are lost-because medical men will believe the results they obtain from animal experiments ; they argue that they will get the same results in men and women.
But back to our Common Daisy after this digression. Burnett found by experiment of himself, I think, that the daisy was pre-eminently a left-sided remedy, and that it acted very much like Arnica. “Fag, tiredness, congestion, stasis,” were the principle notes of its action. A tried womb, for example, tried out after many child-births, the uterus refusing to shrink, and return to its normal size, give Bellis perennis and it will lift the congestion and make the uterus normal in size.
Another indication is : neuralgia from running out into the cold when overheated, and other effects of cold or iced drinks when heated. Labourers or gardeners when perspiring profusely, drinking large draughts of cold cider or cold water may develop dyspepsia or rheumatism. Have you noticed how often you see old men hobbling along the country lanes, who have been stooping over garden beds or in the fields, hoeing and weeding, sowing and planting all through their lives.
They are bent almost double as the result of their labour, prolonged bruising of their muscles, overuse of their labour, prolonged bruising of their muscles, overuse of their spinal muscles, along with imbibing cold drinks when hot. Give Bellis perennis in the early stages to these gardeners and farm labourers, and you would save many a poor old chap from crippling rheumatism. Also the effects of jumping into cold water on a hot summers day when you are overheated ; this brings on much trouble sometimes, and Bellis perennis given early on would soon relieve it.
Burnett again used it frequently in case of weakness and bruised feeling in the muscles after an attack of gout.
Now to go back to the statement that Bellis as a remedial agent in tumours caused by blows or knocks. Some may deny that tumours are caused by blows, but I have come across several cases. I remember a doctor friends of mine, who knocked his knee inadvertently against an open drawer of his desk. The swelling which developed never disappeared ; in fact it grew worse and worse and when he saw another doctor about it, it was discovered that a cancerous tumour had developed.
The tumour was removed, but it was too late, a few weeks later the condition recurred, the leg was amputated above the knee ; and twelve months afterwards there was recurrence in the stump, and the doctor died very shortly afterwards from this malignant disease.
How I wished he would give Homoeopathy a chance ; I was too young and too timid to mention homoeopathic medication to him, he would not have believed it either. Now, I should be bold, and should say to him, “Look here, old chap, we have been know to cure cancer with medicines and Bellis has removed tumours following a blow ; give it a trial”.
I have removed swelling and tumours of the breast, and the nipple in several cases which followed on bruises ; whether they were cancer or not, I cannot tell, for I did not have sections taken or have them examined by the pathologist.
It is dangerous, I think to incise these swellings for fear of spreading the disease ; but clinically speaking I can affirm truthfully, they looked like early cancer. And they disappeared in a few weeks like Dr. Burnetts cases did. Tumours, of course, are difficult to cure sometimes, they may take months to cure ; Bellis perennis may be needed, if there is history of a bruise or a blow, or other constitutional remedies may have to be administered, and it may require all the clinical acumen and knowledge of a physician to conquer the enemy.
Just one short example. A middle aged lady of my acquaintance was knocked down by a car, while crossing a street ; followed by a bruise on her thigh. Weeks afterwards there was still a swelling on her right thigh ; three months treatment with Bellis perennis mother tincture was needed to dissolve this swelling.
I have only used Bellis in material doses, in mother tincture five drops three times a day of the first potency. Here I am following Dr. Burnetts example ; I have never ventured to go higher, but I see no reason why I should not. The Homoeopathic Recorder mentions with repeated doses of Bellis in the 30th and 200th potencies.
