Brassica Napus
By John Henry Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica
Cole Seed, Rape Seed, Wild Corn Kale. N. O. Cruciferæ. Tincture of whole fresh plant.
Clinical
Bulimia / Dropsy / Gangrene / Nails, shedding of / Scurvy / Ulcers
Characteristics
Our knowledge of the pathogenetic effects of Brassica napus is derived from the experience of the Irish famine, during which the people ate it freely. Dropsical swellings, scorbutic mouth, voracious appetite, tympanitic abdomen, blotches like burns, dropping off of nails, and gangrene. All the symptoms of impoverished blood appear, such as growth of downy, colourless hair.
Relations
Compare: Raphanus, Armoracea, Sinapis, Secale.
2. Head
Very distressing frontal headache and tension.
6. Face
Swollen to an enormous extent, the distended state of eyelids and upper lip producing great deformity. Burn-like blotches on nose and forehead (also hands and feet), varying from discoloration to ulceration.
8, 9. Mouth and Throat. . Mucous membrane of mouth and throat inflamed, ulcerated in parts, gums spongy.
11. Stomach
Appetite increased, sometimes voracious.
12. Abdomen
Abdomen tympanitic.
13. Stool
Bowels torpid.
14. Urinary Organs
Urine deficient and irritating.
21. Limbs
Hands and feet dry and shrunken, with blotches of a deep red, like burns, on backs of hands and dorsa of feet, the fingers and toes being frequently cold and livid; ulceration; loss of nails.
25. Skin
Sallow and muddy-looking; covered with downy hair. General œdema. Blotches, deep red, like burns, on backs of hands and feet and nose and forehead, varying from simple discoloration to most troublesome ulceration, causing destruction of cuticle and dropping off of nails, with a marked disposition in the aggravated cases to gangrene.