MUGWORT.
Introduction
(Artemesia – from Artemesia, the Greek Diana, goddess of chastity, as the plant was thought to bring on early puberty, is one explanation that is given for the name. Mugwort-from the Anglo-Saxon, much-midge, a fly or gnat wyrt, wort, plant?)
This naturalized plant is an ancient remedy, having been mentioned by Hippocrates, but it has fallen into disrepute and is not now given in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.
It has never been proved, as far as I know, but was introduced into our materia medica by Noack and Trinks, who took their symptoms from observations made b the old school, and your attention would not be called to it if in a State Examination paper of April, 1898, this question had not been asked: “When should artemesia be given in epilepsy?”.
Symptoms
I Artemesia vulgaris is the remedy asked for, the following from Noack and Trinks’ Handbuch will suggest their idea of its usefulness. Epilepsy, which depends upon menstrual irregularities, occurring most frequently in young whose catamenia are about to appear for the first time (67). Where the paroxysms recur several times a day at such short intervals that the patients have no time to recover full consciousness between the attacks (66).