Synonym. Viburnum Edule. Natural order. Caprifoliaceae. Common names. Cranberry Tree. High Cranberry. sheep’s Berry. Snowball. Habitat. A shrub growing in low grounds along streams. Common in the Alleghenies as far south as the borders of Maryland. Preparation. Tincture from the fresh bark of the root.
GENERAL ANALYSIS.
Through the cerebro-spinal system Viburnum exerts its most marked action upon the female generative organs, its most marked action upon the female generative organs, its chief clinical use being in the treatment of congestive or neuralgic dysmenorrhoea, where it has proved of remarkable value. its action is undoubtedly due to the Valerianic acid which it contains.
CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS.
Mind. Depressed; irritable. Unable to perform mental labor.
Head. Vertigo dull, frontal headache and throbbing, extending to eyeballs, worse on mental exertion; better moving about. dull, heavy headache, mostly over eyes, worse on left side, at times extending to vertex and occiput, principally when delayed menses should appear (Cimic.); worse on sudden jar, bending over, false step or movement; from every cough.
Eyes. Heaviness over eyes and in balls; must, at times, look twice to be sure of seeing an object. Sore feeling in eyeballs (Bryonia, Physos., Spigelia).
Face. Flushed and hot.
Mouth. Tongue dry, broad and white;center brown; leaves impress of teeth (Mercurius). Taste coppery; disagreeable. Lips and mouth dry (Arsenicum, Bryonia, Nux moschata, Pulsatilla).
Stomach. Constant nausea; with faintness; relieved bye eating; followed by vomiting; deathly nausea every night. Faint, nauseated feeling in stomach must lie down; following menses after flow ceases. Empty, gone feeling in stomach (Cimic., Ignatia, Sepia); good lies heavy.
Abdomen. Deep-seated, darting pain in region of spleen. Sensation of hot fluid running through splenic vessels., Intense pain in splenic region, faintness better by sweat. Severe throbbing pain under left floating ribs; better from hard pressure and walking cannot lie on left side. Abdomen tender and sensitive, worse about umbilicus. Cramping colic pains in lower abdomen, almost insupportable, coming suddenly and with terrible severity.
Stool. Inactivity of rectum (Alum); tools of large, hard, dry balls, voided with difficulty, requiring mechanical aid; tenesmus. Dark blood after stool. Diarrhoea profuse, watery, with chills, and at same time cold sweat that rolls off the forehead.
Urine. Profuse, frequent, clear, watery.
Female Organs. Before menses; severe bearing-down, drawing in a anterior muscles of thighs; heavy aching in sacral region and over pubis; occasional sharp, shooting pains in lower abdomen and through womb; pains begin in back and go around ending in cramps in uterus; pains worse in the early part of the evening, and in a close room; better in the open air and when moving about.
During menses: nausea. Cramping pain and great nervous restlessness; feeling as if the breath would leave the body and the heart cease to beat; pain as if the back would break; flow ceases for several hours, then returns in clots. Flow scanty, thin, light-colored, with sensation of lightness of head faint when trying to sit up. congested feeling in pelvic organs, as if menses would appear. Leucorrhoea thin, yellow-white, or colorless, except with the stool,. when it is thick, white, blood-streaked.
Neck and Back. Neck stiff, with pain in occiput. Tired, bruised pain in muscles of back.
Generalities. Inability to lie on the affected side.
Limbs. Buzzing feeling in hands, as if they would burst. Swelling and numbness of the fingers, worse from washing in cold water.
Sleep. Restless, unrefreshing.
Aggravation Evening and night; in warm room; left side most affected.
Amelioration In open air; from moving about; from pressure.
Compare Caulophyllum, Cimic., Gelsemium, Secale, Sepia, Xanthox.
THERAPEUTICS.
Viburnum has proved to be an invaluable remedy in dysmenorrhoea, especially of the congestive or neuralgic type, and often temporarily relieves in the membranous and obstructive varieties. It appears that its action becomes exhausted in about three months, and another remedy is required, though some cases of congestive and neuralgic dysmenorrhoea have been permanently cured. The symptoms indicating the drug have already been detailed. It is a valuable remedy for after pains. Threatened abortion; intense cramp in uterus, and bearing-down; or pain around from back, ending in excruciating pain in lower abdomen. Leucorrhoea. Has been used in hysteria, with painful menstruation. Spasmodic dysuria.
ALLEN CORSON COWPERTHWAITE was born at Cape May, New Jersey, May 3, 1848, son of Joseph C. and Deborah (Godfrey) Cowperthwaite. He attended medical lectures at the University of Iowa in 1867-1868, and was graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1869. He practiced his profession first in Illinois, and then in Nebraska. In 1877 he became Dean and Professor of Materia Medica in the recently organized Homeopathic Department of the State University of Iowa, holding the position till 1892. In 1884 he accepted the chair of Materia Medica, Pharmacology, and Clinical Medicine in the Homeopathic Medical College of the University of Michigan. He removed to Chicago in 1892, and became Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College. From 1901 he also served as president of that College. He is the author of various works, notably "Insanity in its Medico-Legal Relations" (1876), "A Textbook of Materia Medica and Therapeutics" (1880), of "Gynecology" (1888), and of "The Practice of Medicine " (1901).