Iris versicolor
- VERMEULEN Frans
Iris
O flower de luce, bloom on and let the river
linger to kiss thy feet!
O flower of song, bloom on and make for ever
The world more fair and sweet.
[Thomas Longfellow]
Signs
Iris versicolor. Blue Flag. Liver Lily. Snake Lily. N.O. Iridaceae.
CLASSIFICATION The Iridaceae is a family of perennial herbs, including such horticulturally important genera as Crocus, Freesia, Gladiolus and Iris. Comprising about 70 genera and about 1800 species, the family has a worldwide distribution in both tropical and temperate regions, but South Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and Central and South America are especially rich in species. The Iridaceae is divided into 11 tribes and is related to the Liliaceae.
FEATURES Most of the Iridaceae are herbaceous and possess storage organs which are either corms [Gladiolus, Iris], rhizomes [e.g. many Iris species, Sisyrinchium] or more rarely bulbs.
GENUS The genus Iris has some 250 species, all native to temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The species are very variable and may have rhizomatous, bulbous or creeping rootstocks. Many Irises have fragrant flowers and sometimes rootstocks. The most widely grown Irises are the German or Bearded Iris, often known as Flags. Iris flowers are characteristic, bearing 3 outer tepals [the falls] which are reflexed and 3 smaller inner tepals [the standards] that are held erect.
SPECIES Iris versicolor is native to North America and can be found in wet, swampy places, such as marshes, thickets, wet meadows, and along streambanks and shores. It prefers loamy or peaty soils in direct sunlight. Growing 60 to 90 cm high, it has an erect stem and sword-shaped leaves which are shorter than the stem. The flowers appear from May and July, each stem bearing two to six or more. The flowers are purplish blue, the narrow base of the segments variegated with yellow, green, or white and marked with purple veins. The plants tend to form large clumps from thick, creeping rhizomes. Single rhizomes are active only until they produce a bloomstalk, usually just a year. After the stalk is finished flowering, that rhizome becomes inactive. Buds along its length begin to grow and branch out to form new rhizomes that will produce a bloomstalk the following year. All the rhizomes in a clump of irises may be joined to each other, but each individual rhizome is capable of surviving and generating a new plant when it is separated from the others. Irises are prolific in budding off new rhizomes. The large seeds float on water. Aquatic rodents feed upon the rootstocks.
NAME Iris is named for the rainbow [or the Greek messenger Iris], because of the diversity of colours found in the blooms. The specific name versicolor means 'with various colours.' The flowers are commonly called flags because Louis, Clovis, and other rulers in Europe frequently employed the design on flags, banners, and crowns.
CONSTITUENTS The rhizome contains starch, gum, tannin, volatile oil, 25% acrid, resinous matter, isophthalic acid, and traces of salicylic acid. The resinous fraction of blue flag contains phenolic glycosides. These appear to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, leading to production of bile, saliva, and sweat. The root contains the glycoside iridin, which acts as a diuretic and cathartic.
FLEUR-DE-LIS The fleur-de-lis, originally fleur de Louis, has been associated with the Kings of France. There are various legends of how the iris came to represent the French monarchy but most centre around two historical incidents. The first concerns Clovis who in 496 AD is said to have abandoned the three toads on his banner in favour of the fleur-de-lis. Clovis had a Christian wife, queen Clotilda, who had long sought to convert her heathen husband. When faced with the formidable army of Alamanni, the German tribe invading his kingdom, Clovis told his wife that he would be baptized if he won the coming battle. He won and the toads were replaced by the fleur-de-lis. The second incident occurred in 1147, when Louis VII of France had a dream that convinced him to adopt the iris as his device. Thus the fleur-de-lis became the symbol on the banner of France. It was so powerful a symbol of the French kings that the Revolutionaries in 1789 set out to totally obliterate it as the symbol of the hated monarchy. It was chipped off buildings and torn from draperies. Men were guillotined for wearing a fleur-de-lis on their clothes. 1 Placed on the sceptre of the French kings, the three large petals of the iris represented faith, wisdom and valour.
MEDICINE Iris species have been used medicinally since ancient times. According to Dioscorides both the Greeks and the Romans used the rhizomes [of Iris germanica, I. pseudacorus, and I. florentina] for medicinal purposes and in perfumery. Pliny stated that only those in a state of chastity should gather Iris. American Indians poulticed the root [of Iris versicolor] on swellings, sores, wounds, bruises, ulcers, to take away freckles, and to treat rheumatism; internally root tea was used as a strong laxative, emetic, and to stimulate bile flow. It was thought to be useful in cancer, dropsy, impurity of blood, syphilis, skin diseases, liver troubles, and as a laxative. The plant was once a popular domestic remedy in North America for producing salivation without resorting to mercurials; whence its name 'vegetable mercury.' Its use originating from the Indians, Iris versicolor was listed in the U.S. Official Pharmacopoeia until 1938, when it lost its medical importance and was relegated to a flavouring substance for beverages, ice cream, chewing gum, gelatine desserts, and toothpastes. Modern research, however, indicates that the root may have the ability to increase the rate of fat catabolism, and an iris has been used in India as a treatment for obesity.
SYMBOLISM Iris came to earth via a rainbow. The daughter of the Titan Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, she is the messenger of the gods, in particular of Zeus and Hera, and the female equivalent of Hermes. Iris has two sisters: Aello ['Storm'] and Ocypete ['Swift-flying']. Their names reflect the swift and sudden nature of their attacks as the winged female monsters named the harpies, 'snatchers', who snatched people away. Where Iris, the rainbow, represents the benevolence of Zeus [or Hera] her sisters personify his anger, swooping down like sudden storms to torment and plague humans. Like Hermes, Iris is winged, light-footed and swift. Among her duties is that of leading the souls of dead women to the Elysian Fields. In token of that faith the Greeks planted purple Iris on the graves of women. In Euripides' tragedy The Madness of Heracles, Iris accompanies Lyssa ['Madness'] down to earth to afflict Heracles. Iris helps gathering the gods and even the spirits of the dead to help Zeus fight the Giants; sent down to earth by Hera she helps the Argonauts to return home safely; she saves her sisters from the deadly pursuit by the winged sons of Boreas, the swiftest men on earth; she goes down into Hypnos' cave, where no sound or light enters, to wake him and ask him for help on Hera's request. For the ancients the Iris, or "flag-flower", was the symbol of eloquence. According to Mrs Grieve, "the stately Iris from ancient times stood as a symbol of power and majesty - it was dedicated to Juno and was the origin of the sceptre, the Egyptians placing it on the brow of the Sphinx and on the sceptre of their kings." Henry Phillips in his Flora Historica first launched this idea in 1824, after he had found out about the Napoleonic archaeological discoveries in Egypt. Phillips was mistaken, because what actually appears on the head of the Sphinx is a conventionalised form of a serpent, in particular the cobra, which as the uraeus came to be considered the emblem of all pharaohs' power. When associated with the Virgin Mary, the blue iris represents purity and protection, but also grief. The Iris may also be associated with the Immaculate Conception.
FOLKLORE In Japan the Iris is used as a purifier and preservative. Iris-leaves are put in baths to protect the body against disease and evil spirits and upon house roofs as a protection against evil external influences and fire. They were sometimes planted on thatched roofs with the same objective in mind. On 5 May the Japanese take an 'iris-bath' to obtain these favours in the year to come. For the Chinese the Iris is the flower of grace, affection, and beauty in solitude.
PROVINGS •• [1] Rowland - 4 provers, 1851; method: single doses of tincture [1/2 dram], 1x and 3x dils., and 1x trit.
•• [2] Burt - self-experimentation, 1865-66; method: 3 grains of green root [twice on first day], 10 grains of green and 20 of dried root [second day], 30 drops of tincture [third day], 4 grains of green root [fourth and fifth days]; also 5 to 20 grains of 'pure iridin' for 3 days.
•• [3] Wesselhoeft - 7 provers, 1867; method: repeated doses of tincture, from 1-50 drops, and of 1x, 3x, and 5x dils.
•• [4] Vakil - 16 provers, 1988; method: 3c, three times daily for 24 days.
PANCREAS Vakil's "ultimate objective was to corroborate some exocrine pancreatic dysfunction tests with established provings of Iris versicolor." He failed to do so: "Our provings could establish no correlation whatsoever between Iris versicolor and pancreatitis."2 The idea that Iris versicolor has an affinity with the pancreas stems from the Eclectics. Hale came to the same conclusion based on both Burt's "suggestive proving" and on analogy: "A remedy which irritates and stimulates the salivary glands, must have a similar action on the pancreas - a similar tissue, possessing similar functions." During the proving with the green root of Iris, Burt noticed that it caused a burning sensation in the pancreas. This led him to do some experiments with a decoction of Iris on two young female cats. He actually managed to kill both cats with the tincture, finding on post-mortem examination in one of them a "pancreas red with blood, more congested than any other organ." Burt's detestable experiments gave Iris a place in the materia medica as a "pancreatic remedy". Clarke says that it "has proved an excellent remedy in affections of the salivary glands and pancreas", and herbalist Matthew Wood considers it nearly a specific for hypoglycaemia. A case of migraine cured by Iris, cited by Clarke, showed some elements of hypoglycaemia: "The patient, a lady, said: 'The way I know an attack is coming on is, I feel so tired and drowsy that I can go to sleep at any time or place, and my sight becomes dim, but not one bit of pain yet'." In some of its peculiar symptoms - e.g. ropy saliva or blurred vision before headache - Iris has been compared with Kali bichromicum. This, again, points out an involvement of the pancreas, for chromium functions as the Glucose Tolerance Factor. Moreover, the deficiency symptoms of chromium are similar to those of hypoglycaemia. Therapeutically chromium [as a supplement] is used in child and adult diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy, and in hypoglycaemia.
[1] Hollingworth, Flower Chronicles. [2] Vakil, Nanabhai and Vakil, A study of Iris versicolor 3c; BHJ, Jan. 1989.
Affinity
GLANDS [DIGESTIVE TRACT; LIVER; pancreas]. Nerves. *Right side. Left side.
Modalities
Worse: Periodically [weekly; 2-3 a.m.; spring and fall; after midnight]. Mental exhaustion. Hot weather.
Better: Gentle motion. Cold applications.
Main symptoms
M Irritability.
< In morning on waking. Cross with her children; dislikes everyone. Censorious. [cf. 'Sensation of a band across forehead, on attempting to laugh and preventing laughing.'] M Alternating mood. Displeased with everybody and everything, followed by liveliness and activity. Despondency - thinks he is going to be very sick - alternating with disposition to laugh at his fears. [The latter symptom is erroneously listed in the repertories under 'Laughing at his own actions.'] M Low-spirited. • "Two provers noticed a peculiar feeling: They felt like crying but somehow could not. After two days this culminated in a bout of crying which lasted one hour and led to an amelioration of all the mental symptoms."1 M Artistic, thin, delicate and nervous; usually very charming people to meet. [Borland] M Taking responsibility and care for others [esp. children]. Stand up for people that are suffering or suppressed. Keep own feelings, pain, etc. in. Misery and suffering in world make them feel that life is useless; death and graveyards are felt as comforting. Find themselves ugly. [Observations based on three cured cases.]2 G Restless sleep / frightful dreams, at night. [Of digging up corpses and falling into a grave; of dissecting a woman who was hanging by the heels in my office; of suffocation and fire.] Drowsiness during the day. • "Drowsy throughout the day, mostly in afternoons. [This occurred in 7 provers!] Two of the seven felt extremely drowsy during the day; one reported persistent low muttering during sleep."3 G Increased thirst. • "Increased thirst in five provers; of these, three specifically craved cold water."4 G BURNING, along whole digestive tract, not > cold drinks.
G SOUR, acrid and BURNING excretions [vomit, stool].
G > Seashore.
G < Spring. G Hypoglycaemia. • "The typical Iris patient suffers from the characteristic symptoms of low blood sugar. If he or she goes for more than a few hours without food, she becomes tired, faint, dizzy, light-headed; which is relieved immediately after eating, especially something sweet. ... A characteristic symptom is the sensation of a weight on the neck, which occurs in conjunction with a deep depression. The interesting thing about this depression is that it is not especially associated with personal issues, but is a sort of 'generalized non-specific depression.' The patient feels like he or she is 'carrying the weight of the world' on his or her shoulders. The Iris patient usually has an 'addictive personality' - not to the serious narcotics, or even alcohol or tobacco - but to sugar, chocolate, junk food, or TV."5 P HEADACHES. WEEKLY headaches, mainly on SUNDAYS [day off]. Preceded by VISUAL DISTURBANCES. Located on either side of forehead or alternating from side to side. < Lying; rest. > Walking in open air; gentle motion; cold applications.
And Profuse salivation.
And Vomiting of bile [after eating SWEETS].
And Diarrhoea [burning like fire].
• "History of getting over-tired ... tend to get a day or two when they are particularly tired, heavy and sleepy before headache ... Then they wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. and know the headache is coming on ...The attack usually develops - and this is a differentiating point from a number of other remedies - with eye disturbances, vomiting and nausea, before the headache actually begins ... After some hours the patient develops a violent headache, with a feeling of heat and fulness in the head ... usually on the right side, but so severe that it involves practically the whole head ... It is worse on keeping still, and better by moving about gently ... The patient is liable to get a peculiar boring pain just in the middle of the epigastrium if the vomiting has gone on for more than two or three hours ... It is the pancreatic region, and it is interesting that Iris patients are sensitive to sugar. If they are over-tired they tend to get a sugar hunger. Then they are apt to indulge in too many sweets, and the result is that they develop a typical Iris headache." [Borland]
And Fear of brain bleeding and inability to express oneself. [Harry v.d. Zee]
Copious urination AFTER headache.
P Fat.
• "Oily nose, greasy taste in mouth and fatty stool." [Boger]
P ROPY SALIVA, profuse; drips from mouth during conversation.
P BILIOUS, SOUR or ACRID vomiting, with burning.
Especially and HEADACHE.
P Limbs.
Iris has an affinity with the RIGHT UPPER LIMB and the left lower.
c Four of Vakil's provers had sharp pain in the right arm.
• "Three provers reported pain in the right suprascapular region. This symptom was most pronounced in one of the three provers. Early in the second week, she reported of pain which had started in her right trapezius. The pain persisted for two days; so we stopped the drug and put her on placebo. Yet the pain persisted for two weeks beyond the trial period. She would obtain momentary relief by massaging the right trapezius and shrugging the shoulders."6
c A similar pain occurred in three [!] of the older provings.
• "Rheumatic pain in right shoulder, < motion, especially on raising arm." • "Tensive and sticking pain in right shoulder during motion, particularly on raising arm [this set in soon after commencing proving, and lasted 6 weeks after discontinuing medicine]." • [Taking 2 drops of 5x dil. "was followed by immediate dizziness, and subsequent stiffness of trapezius, causing constant shrugging of shoulders and desire to twist head from side to side, lasting all forenoon." [Hughes] P Right-sided herpes zoster and gastric derangement. [1] Vakil, Nanabhai and Vakil, A study of Iris versicolor 3c; BHJ, Jan. 1989. [2] Harry v.d. Zee; three cured cases; personal communication. [3-4] Vakil, ibid. [5] Wood, The Book of Herbal Wisdom. [6] Vakil, ibid. Rubrics Mind Censorious [1]. Aversion to company, when alone > [1]. Irritability, in morning on waking [1]. Laughing about his own fear [about his health] [1*]. Suicidal disposition, before menses [1].
Head
Constriction, forehead, as from a band, when laughing [1*], preventing laughing [1*]. Pain, alternating with pain in abdomen [2], while constipated [1]; as if top of head would come off [1]. Pulsating, > moderate motion [1].
Vision
Blurred, before headache [3]. Dim, before headache [3], during headache [3], on vexation [1/1]. Flickering, before headache [1].
Face
Itching, on becoming heated from exercise [1*].
Mouth
Greasy sensation on tongue [2]. Pain, sore [rawness], hard palate, < cheese [1*], < cherries [1*], < cold drinks [1*], hot drinks [1*], < eating [1*], < onions [1*]. Salivation, during headache [1]. Taste, fatty, greasy [1]. Throat Choking, from food lodging in throat [1*]. Stomach Vomiting, after milk [2]; of bile, during headache [3], of bile, during headache, after eating sweets [2/1]; of sweetish mucus [2]; stringy [2]. Stool Odour, coppery [2]. Urine Copious, during headache [1], after headache [2]. Female Leucorrhoea, ropy, stringy [1]. Limbs Pain, lower limbs, sciatica, < motion [2], < sitting [1], extending to foot [1*]. Dreams Autopsies, dissecting dead bodies [1]. Fire [1]. Falling into a grave [1]. Snakes [1]. Suffocation [1]. * Repertory additions [Hughes]. Food Worse: [2]: Farinaceous; fruit; milk. [1]: Cold drinks; sweets.
 |
| Iris versicolor |
O flower de luce, bloom on and let the river
linger to kiss thy feet!
O flower of song, bloom on and make for ever
The world more fair and sweet.
[Thomas Longfellow]
Signs
Iris versicolor. Blue Flag. Liver Lily. Snake Lily. N.O. Iridaceae.
CLASSIFICATION The Iridaceae is a family of perennial herbs, including such horticulturally important genera as Crocus, Freesia, Gladiolus and Iris. Comprising about 70 genera and about 1800 species, the family has a worldwide distribution in both tropical and temperate regions, but South Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and Central and South America are especially rich in species. The Iridaceae is divided into 11 tribes and is related to the Liliaceae.
 |
| Iris versicolor |
GENUS The genus Iris has some 250 species, all native to temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The species are very variable and may have rhizomatous, bulbous or creeping rootstocks. Many Irises have fragrant flowers and sometimes rootstocks. The most widely grown Irises are the German or Bearded Iris, often known as Flags. Iris flowers are characteristic, bearing 3 outer tepals [the falls] which are reflexed and 3 smaller inner tepals [the standards] that are held erect.
SPECIES Iris versicolor is native to North America and can be found in wet, swampy places, such as marshes, thickets, wet meadows, and along streambanks and shores. It prefers loamy or peaty soils in direct sunlight. Growing 60 to 90 cm high, it has an erect stem and sword-shaped leaves which are shorter than the stem. The flowers appear from May and July, each stem bearing two to six or more. The flowers are purplish blue, the narrow base of the segments variegated with yellow, green, or white and marked with purple veins. The plants tend to form large clumps from thick, creeping rhizomes. Single rhizomes are active only until they produce a bloomstalk, usually just a year. After the stalk is finished flowering, that rhizome becomes inactive. Buds along its length begin to grow and branch out to form new rhizomes that will produce a bloomstalk the following year. All the rhizomes in a clump of irises may be joined to each other, but each individual rhizome is capable of surviving and generating a new plant when it is separated from the others. Irises are prolific in budding off new rhizomes. The large seeds float on water. Aquatic rodents feed upon the rootstocks.
NAME Iris is named for the rainbow [or the Greek messenger Iris], because of the diversity of colours found in the blooms. The specific name versicolor means 'with various colours.' The flowers are commonly called flags because Louis, Clovis, and other rulers in Europe frequently employed the design on flags, banners, and crowns.
CONSTITUENTS The rhizome contains starch, gum, tannin, volatile oil, 25% acrid, resinous matter, isophthalic acid, and traces of salicylic acid. The resinous fraction of blue flag contains phenolic glycosides. These appear to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, leading to production of bile, saliva, and sweat. The root contains the glycoside iridin, which acts as a diuretic and cathartic.
FLEUR-DE-LIS The fleur-de-lis, originally fleur de Louis, has been associated with the Kings of France. There are various legends of how the iris came to represent the French monarchy but most centre around two historical incidents. The first concerns Clovis who in 496 AD is said to have abandoned the three toads on his banner in favour of the fleur-de-lis. Clovis had a Christian wife, queen Clotilda, who had long sought to convert her heathen husband. When faced with the formidable army of Alamanni, the German tribe invading his kingdom, Clovis told his wife that he would be baptized if he won the coming battle. He won and the toads were replaced by the fleur-de-lis. The second incident occurred in 1147, when Louis VII of France had a dream that convinced him to adopt the iris as his device. Thus the fleur-de-lis became the symbol on the banner of France. It was so powerful a symbol of the French kings that the Revolutionaries in 1789 set out to totally obliterate it as the symbol of the hated monarchy. It was chipped off buildings and torn from draperies. Men were guillotined for wearing a fleur-de-lis on their clothes. 1 Placed on the sceptre of the French kings, the three large petals of the iris represented faith, wisdom and valour.
MEDICINE Iris species have been used medicinally since ancient times. According to Dioscorides both the Greeks and the Romans used the rhizomes [of Iris germanica, I. pseudacorus, and I. florentina] for medicinal purposes and in perfumery. Pliny stated that only those in a state of chastity should gather Iris. American Indians poulticed the root [of Iris versicolor] on swellings, sores, wounds, bruises, ulcers, to take away freckles, and to treat rheumatism; internally root tea was used as a strong laxative, emetic, and to stimulate bile flow. It was thought to be useful in cancer, dropsy, impurity of blood, syphilis, skin diseases, liver troubles, and as a laxative. The plant was once a popular domestic remedy in North America for producing salivation without resorting to mercurials; whence its name 'vegetable mercury.' Its use originating from the Indians, Iris versicolor was listed in the U.S. Official Pharmacopoeia until 1938, when it lost its medical importance and was relegated to a flavouring substance for beverages, ice cream, chewing gum, gelatine desserts, and toothpastes. Modern research, however, indicates that the root may have the ability to increase the rate of fat catabolism, and an iris has been used in India as a treatment for obesity.
SYMBOLISM Iris came to earth via a rainbow. The daughter of the Titan Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, she is the messenger of the gods, in particular of Zeus and Hera, and the female equivalent of Hermes. Iris has two sisters: Aello ['Storm'] and Ocypete ['Swift-flying']. Their names reflect the swift and sudden nature of their attacks as the winged female monsters named the harpies, 'snatchers', who snatched people away. Where Iris, the rainbow, represents the benevolence of Zeus [or Hera] her sisters personify his anger, swooping down like sudden storms to torment and plague humans. Like Hermes, Iris is winged, light-footed and swift. Among her duties is that of leading the souls of dead women to the Elysian Fields. In token of that faith the Greeks planted purple Iris on the graves of women. In Euripides' tragedy The Madness of Heracles, Iris accompanies Lyssa ['Madness'] down to earth to afflict Heracles. Iris helps gathering the gods and even the spirits of the dead to help Zeus fight the Giants; sent down to earth by Hera she helps the Argonauts to return home safely; she saves her sisters from the deadly pursuit by the winged sons of Boreas, the swiftest men on earth; she goes down into Hypnos' cave, where no sound or light enters, to wake him and ask him for help on Hera's request. For the ancients the Iris, or "flag-flower", was the symbol of eloquence. According to Mrs Grieve, "the stately Iris from ancient times stood as a symbol of power and majesty - it was dedicated to Juno and was the origin of the sceptre, the Egyptians placing it on the brow of the Sphinx and on the sceptre of their kings." Henry Phillips in his Flora Historica first launched this idea in 1824, after he had found out about the Napoleonic archaeological discoveries in Egypt. Phillips was mistaken, because what actually appears on the head of the Sphinx is a conventionalised form of a serpent, in particular the cobra, which as the uraeus came to be considered the emblem of all pharaohs' power. When associated with the Virgin Mary, the blue iris represents purity and protection, but also grief. The Iris may also be associated with the Immaculate Conception.
FOLKLORE In Japan the Iris is used as a purifier and preservative. Iris-leaves are put in baths to protect the body against disease and evil spirits and upon house roofs as a protection against evil external influences and fire. They were sometimes planted on thatched roofs with the same objective in mind. On 5 May the Japanese take an 'iris-bath' to obtain these favours in the year to come. For the Chinese the Iris is the flower of grace, affection, and beauty in solitude.
PROVINGS •• [1] Rowland - 4 provers, 1851; method: single doses of tincture [1/2 dram], 1x and 3x dils., and 1x trit.
•• [2] Burt - self-experimentation, 1865-66; method: 3 grains of green root [twice on first day], 10 grains of green and 20 of dried root [second day], 30 drops of tincture [third day], 4 grains of green root [fourth and fifth days]; also 5 to 20 grains of 'pure iridin' for 3 days.
•• [3] Wesselhoeft - 7 provers, 1867; method: repeated doses of tincture, from 1-50 drops, and of 1x, 3x, and 5x dils.
•• [4] Vakil - 16 provers, 1988; method: 3c, three times daily for 24 days.
PANCREAS Vakil's "ultimate objective was to corroborate some exocrine pancreatic dysfunction tests with established provings of Iris versicolor." He failed to do so: "Our provings could establish no correlation whatsoever between Iris versicolor and pancreatitis."2 The idea that Iris versicolor has an affinity with the pancreas stems from the Eclectics. Hale came to the same conclusion based on both Burt's "suggestive proving" and on analogy: "A remedy which irritates and stimulates the salivary glands, must have a similar action on the pancreas - a similar tissue, possessing similar functions." During the proving with the green root of Iris, Burt noticed that it caused a burning sensation in the pancreas. This led him to do some experiments with a decoction of Iris on two young female cats. He actually managed to kill both cats with the tincture, finding on post-mortem examination in one of them a "pancreas red with blood, more congested than any other organ." Burt's detestable experiments gave Iris a place in the materia medica as a "pancreatic remedy". Clarke says that it "has proved an excellent remedy in affections of the salivary glands and pancreas", and herbalist Matthew Wood considers it nearly a specific for hypoglycaemia. A case of migraine cured by Iris, cited by Clarke, showed some elements of hypoglycaemia: "The patient, a lady, said: 'The way I know an attack is coming on is, I feel so tired and drowsy that I can go to sleep at any time or place, and my sight becomes dim, but not one bit of pain yet'." In some of its peculiar symptoms - e.g. ropy saliva or blurred vision before headache - Iris has been compared with Kali bichromicum. This, again, points out an involvement of the pancreas, for chromium functions as the Glucose Tolerance Factor. Moreover, the deficiency symptoms of chromium are similar to those of hypoglycaemia. Therapeutically chromium [as a supplement] is used in child and adult diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy, and in hypoglycaemia.
[1] Hollingworth, Flower Chronicles. [2] Vakil, Nanabhai and Vakil, A study of Iris versicolor 3c; BHJ, Jan. 1989.
Affinity
GLANDS [DIGESTIVE TRACT; LIVER; pancreas]. Nerves. *Right side. Left side.
Modalities
Worse: Periodically [weekly; 2-3 a.m.; spring and fall; after midnight]. Mental exhaustion. Hot weather.
Better: Gentle motion. Cold applications.
Main symptoms
M Irritability.
< In morning on waking. Cross with her children; dislikes everyone. Censorious. [cf. 'Sensation of a band across forehead, on attempting to laugh and preventing laughing.'] M Alternating mood. Displeased with everybody and everything, followed by liveliness and activity. Despondency - thinks he is going to be very sick - alternating with disposition to laugh at his fears. [The latter symptom is erroneously listed in the repertories under 'Laughing at his own actions.'] M Low-spirited. • "Two provers noticed a peculiar feeling: They felt like crying but somehow could not. After two days this culminated in a bout of crying which lasted one hour and led to an amelioration of all the mental symptoms."1 M Artistic, thin, delicate and nervous; usually very charming people to meet. [Borland] M Taking responsibility and care for others [esp. children]. Stand up for people that are suffering or suppressed. Keep own feelings, pain, etc. in. Misery and suffering in world make them feel that life is useless; death and graveyards are felt as comforting. Find themselves ugly. [Observations based on three cured cases.]2 G Restless sleep / frightful dreams, at night. [Of digging up corpses and falling into a grave; of dissecting a woman who was hanging by the heels in my office; of suffocation and fire.] Drowsiness during the day. • "Drowsy throughout the day, mostly in afternoons. [This occurred in 7 provers!] Two of the seven felt extremely drowsy during the day; one reported persistent low muttering during sleep."3 G Increased thirst. • "Increased thirst in five provers; of these, three specifically craved cold water."4 G BURNING, along whole digestive tract, not > cold drinks.
G SOUR, acrid and BURNING excretions [vomit, stool].
G > Seashore.
G < Spring. G Hypoglycaemia. • "The typical Iris patient suffers from the characteristic symptoms of low blood sugar. If he or she goes for more than a few hours without food, she becomes tired, faint, dizzy, light-headed; which is relieved immediately after eating, especially something sweet. ... A characteristic symptom is the sensation of a weight on the neck, which occurs in conjunction with a deep depression. The interesting thing about this depression is that it is not especially associated with personal issues, but is a sort of 'generalized non-specific depression.' The patient feels like he or she is 'carrying the weight of the world' on his or her shoulders. The Iris patient usually has an 'addictive personality' - not to the serious narcotics, or even alcohol or tobacco - but to sugar, chocolate, junk food, or TV."5 P HEADACHES. WEEKLY headaches, mainly on SUNDAYS [day off]. Preceded by VISUAL DISTURBANCES. Located on either side of forehead or alternating from side to side. < Lying; rest. > Walking in open air; gentle motion; cold applications.
And Profuse salivation.
And Vomiting of bile [after eating SWEETS].
And Diarrhoea [burning like fire].
• "History of getting over-tired ... tend to get a day or two when they are particularly tired, heavy and sleepy before headache ... Then they wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. and know the headache is coming on ...The attack usually develops - and this is a differentiating point from a number of other remedies - with eye disturbances, vomiting and nausea, before the headache actually begins ... After some hours the patient develops a violent headache, with a feeling of heat and fulness in the head ... usually on the right side, but so severe that it involves practically the whole head ... It is worse on keeping still, and better by moving about gently ... The patient is liable to get a peculiar boring pain just in the middle of the epigastrium if the vomiting has gone on for more than two or three hours ... It is the pancreatic region, and it is interesting that Iris patients are sensitive to sugar. If they are over-tired they tend to get a sugar hunger. Then they are apt to indulge in too many sweets, and the result is that they develop a typical Iris headache." [Borland]
And Fear of brain bleeding and inability to express oneself. [Harry v.d. Zee]
Copious urination AFTER headache.
P Fat.
• "Oily nose, greasy taste in mouth and fatty stool." [Boger]
P ROPY SALIVA, profuse; drips from mouth during conversation.
P BILIOUS, SOUR or ACRID vomiting, with burning.
Especially and HEADACHE.
P Limbs.
Iris has an affinity with the RIGHT UPPER LIMB and the left lower.
c Four of Vakil's provers had sharp pain in the right arm.
• "Three provers reported pain in the right suprascapular region. This symptom was most pronounced in one of the three provers. Early in the second week, she reported of pain which had started in her right trapezius. The pain persisted for two days; so we stopped the drug and put her on placebo. Yet the pain persisted for two weeks beyond the trial period. She would obtain momentary relief by massaging the right trapezius and shrugging the shoulders."6
c A similar pain occurred in three [!] of the older provings.
• "Rheumatic pain in right shoulder, < motion, especially on raising arm." • "Tensive and sticking pain in right shoulder during motion, particularly on raising arm [this set in soon after commencing proving, and lasted 6 weeks after discontinuing medicine]." • [Taking 2 drops of 5x dil. "was followed by immediate dizziness, and subsequent stiffness of trapezius, causing constant shrugging of shoulders and desire to twist head from side to side, lasting all forenoon." [Hughes] P Right-sided herpes zoster and gastric derangement. [1] Vakil, Nanabhai and Vakil, A study of Iris versicolor 3c; BHJ, Jan. 1989. [2] Harry v.d. Zee; three cured cases; personal communication. [3-4] Vakil, ibid. [5] Wood, The Book of Herbal Wisdom. [6] Vakil, ibid. Rubrics Mind Censorious [1]. Aversion to company, when alone > [1]. Irritability, in morning on waking [1]. Laughing about his own fear [about his health] [1*]. Suicidal disposition, before menses [1].
Head
Constriction, forehead, as from a band, when laughing [1*], preventing laughing [1*]. Pain, alternating with pain in abdomen [2], while constipated [1]; as if top of head would come off [1]. Pulsating, > moderate motion [1].
Vision
Blurred, before headache [3]. Dim, before headache [3], during headache [3], on vexation [1/1]. Flickering, before headache [1].
Face
Itching, on becoming heated from exercise [1*].
Mouth
Greasy sensation on tongue [2]. Pain, sore [rawness], hard palate, < cheese [1*], < cherries [1*], < cold drinks [1*], hot drinks [1*], < eating [1*], < onions [1*]. Salivation, during headache [1]. Taste, fatty, greasy [1]. Throat Choking, from food lodging in throat [1*]. Stomach Vomiting, after milk [2]; of bile, during headache [3], of bile, during headache, after eating sweets [2/1]; of sweetish mucus [2]; stringy [2]. Stool Odour, coppery [2]. Urine Copious, during headache [1], after headache [2]. Female Leucorrhoea, ropy, stringy [1]. Limbs Pain, lower limbs, sciatica, < motion [2], < sitting [1], extending to foot [1*]. Dreams Autopsies, dissecting dead bodies [1]. Fire [1]. Falling into a grave [1]. Snakes [1]. Suffocation [1]. * Repertory additions [Hughes]. Food Worse: [2]: Farinaceous; fruit; milk. [1]: Cold drinks; sweets.
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