Aesculus hippocastanum
- VERMEULEN Frans,
Aesc.
There is nothing new except what has been forgotten.
[Marie Antoinette]
Calm in the morn without a sound,
Calm as to suit a calmer grief,
And only thro' the faded leaf
The chestnut pottering to the ground.
[Tennyson]
Signs
Aesculus hippocastanum. Horse chestnut. Buckeye. N.O. Hippocastanaceae.
CLASSIFICATION The Hippocastanaceae family consists of two genera only: Aesculus and Billia. The genus Aesculus comprises 13 deciduous species and is native to north temperate regions. The two evergreen species of the genus Billia are restricted to southern Mexico and tropical South America.
NAME Aesculus is the ancient Latin name of an oak or mast-bearing tree. The name [from esca, food] was applied originally to a species of oak, which was highly prized for its acorns. The specific name hippocastanum is derived from Gr. hippos, a horse, and L. castanea, the Chestnut tree or Virgil. Some writers think that the prefix 'horse' is a corruption of the Welsh gwres, meaning hot, fierce, or pungent, e.g. 'Horse-chestnut' = the bitter chestnut, in opposition to the sweet one, Castanea vesca [= C. sativa], although this is an entirely different tree to which it is not even distantly related. Castanea is one of the eight genera constituting the Fagaceae family; other well-known members are Fagus [beech] and Quercus [oak]. Another explanation for the name Horse chestnut is the resemblance of the large seeds to chestnuts, and because the Turks often grind them into a coarse flour, which is mixed with other food and given to horses that are broken-winded [having short breath or disordered respiration]. The name Buckeye comes from the resemblance of the seeds to the eye of the buck.
FEATURES All thirteen Aesculus species have large and usually sticky winter buds, wrapped about with fourteen resinous scales. No frost or damp can thus harm the leaf and flower. The terminal buds develop with amazing rapidity with the approach of spring. The sun melts the resin that binds them together. These splendid trees with spreading branches, in particular A. hippocastanum, are widely planted in Europe as ornamental shade trees. A. hippocastanum is indigenous to Eastern Europe and northern and central parts of Asia. It thrives best in a good, sandy loam and very rapidly may reach 30 meters in height and as much across, with five- or seven- five- or seven-lobed leaves and spikes of variegated white and red flowers, "tapering upwards amidst the foliage like so many wax lights." The large leaves spread like fingers from the palm of the hand. "All over the small branches may be found the curious marks in the shape of minute horse-shoes, from which, perhaps, the tree gets its name. They are really the leaf scars. Wherever a bygone leaf has been, can be traced on the bark a perfect facsimile of a horseshoe, even to the seven nail markings, which are perfectly distinct. And among the twigs may be found some with an odd resemblance to a horse's foot and fetlock."1
SEED The fruit, a brown nut, has a remarkable shining, polished skin. A large green husk with short spines envelops it, which splits into three valves when falling to the ground. The ripe seeds, known in England as 'conkers', are a source of starch, and fed to stock. Cattle are said to eat them with relish, though pigs will not touch them. "The method of utilizing them is to first soak them in lime-water, which deprives them of the well-known bitter flavour inherent in the nuts, and then to grind them to a meal and mix them with the ordinary provender."2
USES From the wood charcoal is obtained which is used for manufacturing gunpowder. The soft and spongy timber is too light to be of much value. The nuts, unpalatable for humans, are particularly rich in potash [60% of the ashes] and phosphorus [22%], and have been used as a substitute for soap. To prevent them from becoming mouldy and rot, the nuts are preserved in sand during the winter. They reputedly contain narcotic properties. Aescine, present in the nuts, is used as a sunburn protective. The bark is odourless, but has a bitter astringent taste. It has tonic, narcotic and febrifuge properties and has been used in intermittent fevers.
EFFECTS The leaves are poisonous in early spring. Intoxications from eating the nuts are rare. Symptoms of poisoning may include inflammation of mucous membranes, vomiting, diarrhoea, violent thirst, facial redness, and anxiety. In more serious cases nervous disorders, sleepiness, stupor, loss of power to coordinate action of limbs, and even paralysis of respiration can occur. Aesculus has properties similar to those of vitamin P [permeability vitamin]: it reduces the permeability and fragility of capillaries, and has antiphlogistic and diuretic properties. Owing to its vasoconstrictive effect, argyraesceine is employed in the treatment of varicose veins and haemorrhoids.
QUERCETIN Aesculus contains substantial amounts of quercetin, a bioflavonoid that serves as a backbone for other flavonoids and is considered to be the most active of them all. Quercetin is widely distributed in the plant kingdom, particularly in rinds and barks, but also in clover blossoms and ragweed pollen. Plants rich in it include Pseudotsuga menziesi, Viola tricolor, Adonis vernalis, Matricaria recutita, Crataegus spp., Humulus lupulus, Malus spp. [Apple], Artemisia absinthium, and many members of the Ericaceae [Ledum, Vaccinium, Rhododendron, Arctostaphylos]. It is also abundant in fruits and vegetables such as citrus rind, garlic, onions and blue-green algae. Research has demonstrated quercetin to be a capillary protective. Quercetin is an effective inhibitor of ragweed antigen-induced histamine release from the basophils of subjects with hay fever; it also decreases the contraction tonus and amplitude of intestinal and uterine segments induced by histamine, acetylcholine, and barium chloride. "Quercetin has been found to be a powerful antioxidant, neutralizes free radicals, which are the underlying causes of the degenerative diseases of ageing such as heart disease, cancer and arthritis; it has also been reported to possess strong and prolonged anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties. In addition, it is reported to be effective against viruses, esp. oral herpes."3
FOLKLORE In the language of flowers Aesculus symbolizes luxury. As an herb of Jupiter and the fire element, the primary use of the chestnut in magic used to be for love spells. Horse chestnuts, threaded on strings, were used in England in the game of conkers, in which each player seeks to break their opponent's by hitting it with their own. The one remaining unbroken is the 'conqueror'. Carrying a nut in ones pocket is believed to prevent piles. Carrying three nuts guards against giddiness. To attract money, one has to wrap a dollar bill around a nut, place it into a sachet and carry it. It can also be carried for success in all things.
FLOWER REMEDY Dr Edward Bach chose the remedy Chestnut Bud [the green buds of the horse chestnut] for people who repeatedly make the same mistake but seem unable to learn from it. He says that the cause might be indifference, inattention or failure to anticipate the outcome of their actions. These people try to forget the past and in the process, lose a grip on the present and the future. [Compare the rubric: "Dulness or confusion on waking, morning or night."]
PROVINGS •• [1] Buchmann - 7 persons [3 males, 4 females], 1857; method: 'chewing and swallowing fresh kernel' or taking 5-30 drops of tincture.
•• [2] Hale - 6 [male] provers, 1864-1865; method: repeated doses, at irregular intervals, of 'pulverised nut', 1x trit., 2x dil., 3x dil., and tincture.
[1-2] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [3] Sharon, Nutrients A to Z.
Affinity
Veins [liver; nasopharynx; ABDOMEN - right side; RECTUM]. Mucous membranes. Occiput. Lumbar region. Sacroiliac region. * Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Morning, on waking. After stool. Urinating. WALKING. During and after sleep. Rest and lying. Closed and warm room. Stooping.
Better: COOL, open air; cold water. Bleeding [piles]. Kneeling. Continued exertion. Warmth [superficial stinging pains]. Summer.
Comparisons
c VEINS
"The Puls. veins contract in cold weather, and the shrivelling up makes the patient feel better, but the veins fill and become engorged in the warm air and after a hot bath. A tepid bath sometimes makes a Puls. patient feel better, but a Turkish bath is generally distressing. Many of the complaints of Aesc. are of this sort; Aesc. often feels better in cold air." [Kent]
Main symptoms
M Dulness or confusion on waking; morning or night.
• "On waking [from sleep while sitting] cannot recognize what she sees; knows not where she is; nor whence came the objects about her." [Allen]
• "It is especially useful in children that rouse up in sleep frightened and in confusion, like Lyc." [Kent]
c Bach Flower Key Symptoms [Scheffer]
Chestnut Bud: Repeating the same faults over and over again, because experiences are not really digested and not enough is learned from them. Seems very slow to learn from life. Events are not reconsidered at sufficient depth. Attempts to forget unpleasant experiences as quickly as possible. Prefers to rush into new ventures rather than letting past ones have any real effect. Mental blocks, retarded development.
White Chestnut [flowers of horse chestnut]: Unwanted thoughts keep going round and round in one's head, cannot get rid of them, mental arguments and dialogues. Very much head-orientated; prisoner of one's thoughts. Keep going over the same problems time and time again in one's mind. Mental hyperactivity therefore lacks concentration in everyday life. Tired and depressed during the day, head feels full.
Compulsive and obsessive thoughts.
OR:
M Clearness,
"with light feeling in anterior lobes, but heaviness and dulness in occiput." [Allen]
M Extreme irritability.
Loses temper easily and gains control over it again but slowly. [Allen]
Dominance.
Dreams of fighting in a battle.
G Aesculus picture in herbal medicine.
• "Physically active people in health, there is good muscular co-ordination in the lower part of the body, which is always the heaviest and strongest. These people love walking, climbing, mountaineering, and tend to be adrenally cheerful first thing in the morning - sometimes too much so for the rest of the household! Early mornings tend to be their best time of day for strenuous activity, but the strongest of them are still leaping up on the tables at midnight, singing loudly and waving their arms about. 'Horse chestnut' is a frightfully jolly person! ... All this energetic leaping about in early life can lead to adrenal over-charging and a constant strain on other endocrine glands because of it. In the male, especially, there often seems to be great development in the physical and athletic use of adrenal glands, sometimes at the expense of the sensual and sexual uses for the prostate gland. Such males can be gladiators in the sporting world, but find great difficulty with the softer and gentler hormones used in emotions, in sexual activity, and in physical comfort. They can, and do, become martyrs to physical competency, training hard and vigorously to achieve 'perfect' condition. They run up sandhills and three flights of stairs at the office, thoroughly enjoying their 'excellent' health. They can even regard sexual activity in a 'performance' sense, notching up the quantity, and not necessarily aware of the quality - esp. for their partner! If ever a herb reflected macho-maleness, it's Horse Chestnut! The female 'Horse chestnut' can be fearsome! Large arms pummel you on the massage-table, and you can bet she'll run round the block at the end of the day, just to use up all that excess hip and thigh energy."1
G WEARINESS.
Fatigued feeling, as from a long walk. Totters when walking.
G Slowness.
• "Everything is slowed down in this remedy: Digestion is slow. The heart is labouring. The veins are congested. The bowels are constipated." [Howland]
G Chilliness.
And Sensation of heat [veins, skin] and burning rawness [mucous membranes].
G < MOTION [of affected parts]. G > Continued motion [general].
• "The symptoms pass away after considerable exertion; moving about, doing something, keeping busy relieves." [Kent]
G < Rubbing. Congestion of face after rubbing. Painfulness [and sometimes bleeding] of haemorrhoids after rubbing / wiping. G HOT, DRY, STIFF, ROUGH or FULL feeling internally; throat; anus. FULNESS of veins [rectum; hands; feet]. • "Not the fulness that pits upon pressure, that we call oedema, but a tenseness." [Kent] Fulness and pulsating in veins, as if one has too much blood. • "Can feel the pulsations all over the body." [Kent] VENOUS CONGESTIONS, esp. portal and haemorrhoidal. G Sensation of HEAVINESS [externally]. G DARK RED, purplish DISCOLOURATION. [throat; varicose veins; haemorrhoids] G Secretions usually diminished, occasionally increased. • "Dryness of the mucous membranes. Dryness of posterior nares and throat. Dryness and constriction of the fauces. Dryness and stiffness of the glottis. Dry, hacking cough. Dry or fluent coryza. Lachrymation. Dryness, heat and constriction of the rectum, as if obstructed. Stools dry, hard, knotty, difficult; dark or whitish, from excess or lack of bile." [Fornias] • "In all the digestive as well as respiratory troubles in which Aesculus is indicated disturbed metabolism translates itself by a constant dryness, constriction and burning of the affected parts." [Fornias] P Coryza. Scanty, thin, watery discharge; rawness and burning. Similar to Ars., but with sore feeling on inhaling cold air. P Talking. • "Unable to articulate long words distinctly; cannot control the tongue so as to form the words aright." [proving symptom; Allen] The same prover [T.C. Duncan, taking 1x and 2x] experienced a dry feeling in palate and posterior nares, and a feeling as if the tongue was swollen. P Throat affections [swelling, dryness, burning, soreness, < swallowing] alternating with affections of rectum [haemorrhoids]. • "Aesculus is also a remedy for follicular pharyngitis when the chief symptom is a dry rough or raw feeling in the fauces, and a sensation of constriction, and esp. when occurring in haemorrhoidal subjects." [Cowperthwaite] P Congestion of liver [from portal stasis]. Aching, pinching pains in right hypochondrium, < walking. Pains extend up between the shoulders. And Haemorrhoids. P Constipation. And Backache in lumbar region, < WALKING and STOOPING. P HAEMORRHOIDS [blind, bluish, large]. • "There is little tendency to haemorrhage, but much severe fulness and bearing down, with constipation." [Kent] < Walking. And Pain in rectum after stool. And Constipation. And Fulness, burning and itching in rectum/anus. [Anus intensely painful for hours after stool.] • "Dry uncomfortable feeling in the rectum which feels as if it had been filled with sticks." • "Dreadful pain in the anus, could not sit, stand or lie down. The pain was like a knife, sawing backward and forwards, almost a martyrdom for agony." [Hughes] P PAIN ACROSS SACROILIAC JOINTS. More or less constant, and feeling as if the back would give way at that point. This causes a sense of great fatigue when walking, so that walking is almost impossible. Must sit down, is still better by lying. When this symptom occurs in uterine displacements, or during pregnancy, it may be regarded as a keynote. Lameness as if strained, extending to hips or legs, or aching and weakness. < Walking, stooping, or any movement. Pains and stiffness often > after continued motion.
P Rheumatic pains.
Flying, shooting, wandering, shooting along nerves.
• "They seem at times to be scarcely more than skin deep." [Kent]
> Warmth.
[1] Hall, Herbal Medicine.
Rubrics
Mind
Confusion on waking [2]; knows not where she is [2]. Feeling as if death were impending during the darting pain in trachea, followed by exalted condition of brain and nervous system [1/1*]. Dulness in morning on waking [2].
Head
Feeling of contraction in skin of forehead, during frontal headache [1/1*].
Vision
Colours, black spots before the eyes > fixing eyes on an object [1/1].
Nose
Sensation of heat in tip of nose [1*].
Face
Congestion after rubbing [1/1]. Red discolouration after washing [2]. Swelling of face after washing [2/1].
Mouth
Speech difficult, inability to speak long words distinctly [1/1*]. Taste like liquorice [1*].
Teeth
Sensation as if teeth were covered with oil [1/1].
Throat
Dryness of throat after eating [1; Nat-m.]. Disposition to swallow, from saliva [1*].
Stomach
Sense of constriction before convulsions [2/1]. Nausea after tea [2/1].
Abdomen
Sense of fulness in hypogastrium [2]; before and during menses [1*].
Rectum
Haemorrhoids > warm weather [2/1]. Pain > kneeling [2/1]. Prolapsus at night [2/1]. Urging on each eructation [1/1].
Cough
Short, on breathing deep [2/1]; from swallowing [2/1].
Chest
Sensation as if right lung moves up and down, with respiration [1*].
Back
Sense of paralysis of muscles of back [3/1]. Stiffness on beginning to move [2].
Limbs
Heat of left arm and hand [1*]; feeling of heaviness and swelling in them [1*]. Pain, broken sensation in hip, as if pelvis were falling apart [1; Tril.]. Sensation of paralysis of legs [3]. Swelling of hands after washing [1/1]; of feet after washing [1/1].
* Repertory additions [Hughes].
Food
Worse: [2]: Tea.
Aesc.
 |
| Aesculus hippocastanum |
[Marie Antoinette]
Calm in the morn without a sound,
Calm as to suit a calmer grief,
And only thro' the faded leaf
The chestnut pottering to the ground.
[Tennyson]
Signs
Aesculus hippocastanum. Horse chestnut. Buckeye. N.O. Hippocastanaceae.
CLASSIFICATION The Hippocastanaceae family consists of two genera only: Aesculus and Billia. The genus Aesculus comprises 13 deciduous species and is native to north temperate regions. The two evergreen species of the genus Billia are restricted to southern Mexico and tropical South America.
NAME Aesculus is the ancient Latin name of an oak or mast-bearing tree. The name [from esca, food] was applied originally to a species of oak, which was highly prized for its acorns. The specific name hippocastanum is derived from Gr. hippos, a horse, and L. castanea, the Chestnut tree or Virgil. Some writers think that the prefix 'horse' is a corruption of the Welsh gwres, meaning hot, fierce, or pungent, e.g. 'Horse-chestnut' = the bitter chestnut, in opposition to the sweet one, Castanea vesca [= C. sativa], although this is an entirely different tree to which it is not even distantly related. Castanea is one of the eight genera constituting the Fagaceae family; other well-known members are Fagus [beech] and Quercus [oak]. Another explanation for the name Horse chestnut is the resemblance of the large seeds to chestnuts, and because the Turks often grind them into a coarse flour, which is mixed with other food and given to horses that are broken-winded [having short breath or disordered respiration]. The name Buckeye comes from the resemblance of the seeds to the eye of the buck.
FEATURES All thirteen Aesculus species have large and usually sticky winter buds, wrapped about with fourteen resinous scales. No frost or damp can thus harm the leaf and flower. The terminal buds develop with amazing rapidity with the approach of spring. The sun melts the resin that binds them together. These splendid trees with spreading branches, in particular A. hippocastanum, are widely planted in Europe as ornamental shade trees. A. hippocastanum is indigenous to Eastern Europe and northern and central parts of Asia. It thrives best in a good, sandy loam and very rapidly may reach 30 meters in height and as much across, with five- or seven- five- or seven-lobed leaves and spikes of variegated white and red flowers, "tapering upwards amidst the foliage like so many wax lights." The large leaves spread like fingers from the palm of the hand. "All over the small branches may be found the curious marks in the shape of minute horse-shoes, from which, perhaps, the tree gets its name. They are really the leaf scars. Wherever a bygone leaf has been, can be traced on the bark a perfect facsimile of a horseshoe, even to the seven nail markings, which are perfectly distinct. And among the twigs may be found some with an odd resemblance to a horse's foot and fetlock."1
 |
| Aesculus hippocastanum |
USES From the wood charcoal is obtained which is used for manufacturing gunpowder. The soft and spongy timber is too light to be of much value. The nuts, unpalatable for humans, are particularly rich in potash [60% of the ashes] and phosphorus [22%], and have been used as a substitute for soap. To prevent them from becoming mouldy and rot, the nuts are preserved in sand during the winter. They reputedly contain narcotic properties. Aescine, present in the nuts, is used as a sunburn protective. The bark is odourless, but has a bitter astringent taste. It has tonic, narcotic and febrifuge properties and has been used in intermittent fevers.
EFFECTS The leaves are poisonous in early spring. Intoxications from eating the nuts are rare. Symptoms of poisoning may include inflammation of mucous membranes, vomiting, diarrhoea, violent thirst, facial redness, and anxiety. In more serious cases nervous disorders, sleepiness, stupor, loss of power to coordinate action of limbs, and even paralysis of respiration can occur. Aesculus has properties similar to those of vitamin P [permeability vitamin]: it reduces the permeability and fragility of capillaries, and has antiphlogistic and diuretic properties. Owing to its vasoconstrictive effect, argyraesceine is employed in the treatment of varicose veins and haemorrhoids.
QUERCETIN Aesculus contains substantial amounts of quercetin, a bioflavonoid that serves as a backbone for other flavonoids and is considered to be the most active of them all. Quercetin is widely distributed in the plant kingdom, particularly in rinds and barks, but also in clover blossoms and ragweed pollen. Plants rich in it include Pseudotsuga menziesi, Viola tricolor, Adonis vernalis, Matricaria recutita, Crataegus spp., Humulus lupulus, Malus spp. [Apple], Artemisia absinthium, and many members of the Ericaceae [Ledum, Vaccinium, Rhododendron, Arctostaphylos]. It is also abundant in fruits and vegetables such as citrus rind, garlic, onions and blue-green algae. Research has demonstrated quercetin to be a capillary protective. Quercetin is an effective inhibitor of ragweed antigen-induced histamine release from the basophils of subjects with hay fever; it also decreases the contraction tonus and amplitude of intestinal and uterine segments induced by histamine, acetylcholine, and barium chloride. "Quercetin has been found to be a powerful antioxidant, neutralizes free radicals, which are the underlying causes of the degenerative diseases of ageing such as heart disease, cancer and arthritis; it has also been reported to possess strong and prolonged anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties. In addition, it is reported to be effective against viruses, esp. oral herpes."3
FOLKLORE In the language of flowers Aesculus symbolizes luxury. As an herb of Jupiter and the fire element, the primary use of the chestnut in magic used to be for love spells. Horse chestnuts, threaded on strings, were used in England in the game of conkers, in which each player seeks to break their opponent's by hitting it with their own. The one remaining unbroken is the 'conqueror'. Carrying a nut in ones pocket is believed to prevent piles. Carrying three nuts guards against giddiness. To attract money, one has to wrap a dollar bill around a nut, place it into a sachet and carry it. It can also be carried for success in all things.
FLOWER REMEDY Dr Edward Bach chose the remedy Chestnut Bud [the green buds of the horse chestnut] for people who repeatedly make the same mistake but seem unable to learn from it. He says that the cause might be indifference, inattention or failure to anticipate the outcome of their actions. These people try to forget the past and in the process, lose a grip on the present and the future. [Compare the rubric: "Dulness or confusion on waking, morning or night."]
PROVINGS •• [1] Buchmann - 7 persons [3 males, 4 females], 1857; method: 'chewing and swallowing fresh kernel' or taking 5-30 drops of tincture.
•• [2] Hale - 6 [male] provers, 1864-1865; method: repeated doses, at irregular intervals, of 'pulverised nut', 1x trit., 2x dil., 3x dil., and tincture.
[1-2] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [3] Sharon, Nutrients A to Z.
Affinity
Veins [liver; nasopharynx; ABDOMEN - right side; RECTUM]. Mucous membranes. Occiput. Lumbar region. Sacroiliac region. * Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Morning, on waking. After stool. Urinating. WALKING. During and after sleep. Rest and lying. Closed and warm room. Stooping.
Better: COOL, open air; cold water. Bleeding [piles]. Kneeling. Continued exertion. Warmth [superficial stinging pains]. Summer.
Comparisons
c VEINS
"The Puls. veins contract in cold weather, and the shrivelling up makes the patient feel better, but the veins fill and become engorged in the warm air and after a hot bath. A tepid bath sometimes makes a Puls. patient feel better, but a Turkish bath is generally distressing. Many of the complaints of Aesc. are of this sort; Aesc. often feels better in cold air." [Kent]
Main symptoms
M Dulness or confusion on waking; morning or night.
• "On waking [from sleep while sitting] cannot recognize what she sees; knows not where she is; nor whence came the objects about her." [Allen]
• "It is especially useful in children that rouse up in sleep frightened and in confusion, like Lyc." [Kent]
c Bach Flower Key Symptoms [Scheffer]
Chestnut Bud: Repeating the same faults over and over again, because experiences are not really digested and not enough is learned from them. Seems very slow to learn from life. Events are not reconsidered at sufficient depth. Attempts to forget unpleasant experiences as quickly as possible. Prefers to rush into new ventures rather than letting past ones have any real effect. Mental blocks, retarded development.
White Chestnut [flowers of horse chestnut]: Unwanted thoughts keep going round and round in one's head, cannot get rid of them, mental arguments and dialogues. Very much head-orientated; prisoner of one's thoughts. Keep going over the same problems time and time again in one's mind. Mental hyperactivity therefore lacks concentration in everyday life. Tired and depressed during the day, head feels full.
Compulsive and obsessive thoughts.
OR:
M Clearness,
"with light feeling in anterior lobes, but heaviness and dulness in occiput." [Allen]
M Extreme irritability.
Loses temper easily and gains control over it again but slowly. [Allen]
Dominance.
Dreams of fighting in a battle.
G Aesculus picture in herbal medicine.
• "Physically active people in health, there is good muscular co-ordination in the lower part of the body, which is always the heaviest and strongest. These people love walking, climbing, mountaineering, and tend to be adrenally cheerful first thing in the morning - sometimes too much so for the rest of the household! Early mornings tend to be their best time of day for strenuous activity, but the strongest of them are still leaping up on the tables at midnight, singing loudly and waving their arms about. 'Horse chestnut' is a frightfully jolly person! ... All this energetic leaping about in early life can lead to adrenal over-charging and a constant strain on other endocrine glands because of it. In the male, especially, there often seems to be great development in the physical and athletic use of adrenal glands, sometimes at the expense of the sensual and sexual uses for the prostate gland. Such males can be gladiators in the sporting world, but find great difficulty with the softer and gentler hormones used in emotions, in sexual activity, and in physical comfort. They can, and do, become martyrs to physical competency, training hard and vigorously to achieve 'perfect' condition. They run up sandhills and three flights of stairs at the office, thoroughly enjoying their 'excellent' health. They can even regard sexual activity in a 'performance' sense, notching up the quantity, and not necessarily aware of the quality - esp. for their partner! If ever a herb reflected macho-maleness, it's Horse Chestnut! The female 'Horse chestnut' can be fearsome! Large arms pummel you on the massage-table, and you can bet she'll run round the block at the end of the day, just to use up all that excess hip and thigh energy."1
G WEARINESS.
Fatigued feeling, as from a long walk. Totters when walking.
G Slowness.
• "Everything is slowed down in this remedy: Digestion is slow. The heart is labouring. The veins are congested. The bowels are constipated." [Howland]
G Chilliness.
And Sensation of heat [veins, skin] and burning rawness [mucous membranes].
G < MOTION [of affected parts]. G > Continued motion [general].
• "The symptoms pass away after considerable exertion; moving about, doing something, keeping busy relieves." [Kent]
G < Rubbing. Congestion of face after rubbing. Painfulness [and sometimes bleeding] of haemorrhoids after rubbing / wiping. G HOT, DRY, STIFF, ROUGH or FULL feeling internally; throat; anus. FULNESS of veins [rectum; hands; feet]. • "Not the fulness that pits upon pressure, that we call oedema, but a tenseness." [Kent] Fulness and pulsating in veins, as if one has too much blood. • "Can feel the pulsations all over the body." [Kent] VENOUS CONGESTIONS, esp. portal and haemorrhoidal. G Sensation of HEAVINESS [externally]. G DARK RED, purplish DISCOLOURATION. [throat; varicose veins; haemorrhoids] G Secretions usually diminished, occasionally increased. • "Dryness of the mucous membranes. Dryness of posterior nares and throat. Dryness and constriction of the fauces. Dryness and stiffness of the glottis. Dry, hacking cough. Dry or fluent coryza. Lachrymation. Dryness, heat and constriction of the rectum, as if obstructed. Stools dry, hard, knotty, difficult; dark or whitish, from excess or lack of bile." [Fornias] • "In all the digestive as well as respiratory troubles in which Aesculus is indicated disturbed metabolism translates itself by a constant dryness, constriction and burning of the affected parts." [Fornias] P Coryza. Scanty, thin, watery discharge; rawness and burning. Similar to Ars., but with sore feeling on inhaling cold air. P Talking. • "Unable to articulate long words distinctly; cannot control the tongue so as to form the words aright." [proving symptom; Allen] The same prover [T.C. Duncan, taking 1x and 2x] experienced a dry feeling in palate and posterior nares, and a feeling as if the tongue was swollen. P Throat affections [swelling, dryness, burning, soreness, < swallowing] alternating with affections of rectum [haemorrhoids]. • "Aesculus is also a remedy for follicular pharyngitis when the chief symptom is a dry rough or raw feeling in the fauces, and a sensation of constriction, and esp. when occurring in haemorrhoidal subjects." [Cowperthwaite] P Congestion of liver [from portal stasis]. Aching, pinching pains in right hypochondrium, < walking. Pains extend up between the shoulders. And Haemorrhoids. P Constipation. And Backache in lumbar region, < WALKING and STOOPING. P HAEMORRHOIDS [blind, bluish, large]. • "There is little tendency to haemorrhage, but much severe fulness and bearing down, with constipation." [Kent] < Walking. And Pain in rectum after stool. And Constipation. And Fulness, burning and itching in rectum/anus. [Anus intensely painful for hours after stool.] • "Dry uncomfortable feeling in the rectum which feels as if it had been filled with sticks." • "Dreadful pain in the anus, could not sit, stand or lie down. The pain was like a knife, sawing backward and forwards, almost a martyrdom for agony." [Hughes] P PAIN ACROSS SACROILIAC JOINTS. More or less constant, and feeling as if the back would give way at that point. This causes a sense of great fatigue when walking, so that walking is almost impossible. Must sit down, is still better by lying. When this symptom occurs in uterine displacements, or during pregnancy, it may be regarded as a keynote. Lameness as if strained, extending to hips or legs, or aching and weakness. < Walking, stooping, or any movement. Pains and stiffness often > after continued motion.
P Rheumatic pains.
Flying, shooting, wandering, shooting along nerves.
• "They seem at times to be scarcely more than skin deep." [Kent]
> Warmth.
[1] Hall, Herbal Medicine.
Rubrics
Mind
Confusion on waking [2]; knows not where she is [2]. Feeling as if death were impending during the darting pain in trachea, followed by exalted condition of brain and nervous system [1/1*]. Dulness in morning on waking [2].
Head
Feeling of contraction in skin of forehead, during frontal headache [1/1*].
Vision
Colours, black spots before the eyes > fixing eyes on an object [1/1].
Nose
Sensation of heat in tip of nose [1*].
Face
Congestion after rubbing [1/1]. Red discolouration after washing [2]. Swelling of face after washing [2/1].
Mouth
Speech difficult, inability to speak long words distinctly [1/1*]. Taste like liquorice [1*].
Teeth
Sensation as if teeth were covered with oil [1/1].
Throat
Dryness of throat after eating [1; Nat-m.]. Disposition to swallow, from saliva [1*].
Stomach
Sense of constriction before convulsions [2/1]. Nausea after tea [2/1].
Abdomen
Sense of fulness in hypogastrium [2]; before and during menses [1*].
Rectum
Haemorrhoids > warm weather [2/1]. Pain > kneeling [2/1]. Prolapsus at night [2/1]. Urging on each eructation [1/1].
Cough
Short, on breathing deep [2/1]; from swallowing [2/1].
Chest
Sensation as if right lung moves up and down, with respiration [1*].
Back
Sense of paralysis of muscles of back [3/1]. Stiffness on beginning to move [2].
Limbs
Heat of left arm and hand [1*]; feeling of heaviness and swelling in them [1*]. Pain, broken sensation in hip, as if pelvis were falling apart [1; Tril.]. Sensation of paralysis of legs [3]. Swelling of hands after washing [1/1]; of feet after washing [1/1].
* Repertory additions [Hughes].
Food
Worse: [2]: Tea.
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