Calendula
Calendula officinalis. Marigold. N. O. Compositae. Tincture of leaves and
flowers.
Clinical.-Abscess. Balanitis. Breast, suppurating; nodosities in. Bubo. Burns.
Carbuncle. Chilblains. Deafness. Eyes, inflamed. Fever. Fistula. Glandular
swelling. Jaundice. Labour. Nails, pulp of, inflamed. Nipples, sore.
Suppuration. Tetanus. Ulcers. Uterus, inflammation of; cancer of; offensive
discharge from. Varicosis. Whitlow. Wounds.
Characteristics.-Calendula belongs to the same family as those other great
Vulneraries Arnica and Bellis perennis. The special kind of wounds indicating
its use are lacerated wounds and suppurating wounds. It is the homoeopathic
antiseptic-it restores the vitality of an injured part, making it impregnable
against the forces of putrefaction. Unlike Arnica it has no irritating property
capable of producing erysipelas. It is therefore suitable to all cases of injury
where the skin is broken. Jahr, who was in Paris during the Coup d'État of
1849, treated a number of cases of gun-shot wounds with comminuted
bones, and saved several limbs by means of Calendula. It prevented
suppuration and pyaemia. In some cases of carbuncle it acts with great
promptitude, subduing pain and fever. In obstetric practice it is invaluable.
The application of a sponge saturated with a hot solution of Calendula after
delivery gives the greatest comfort to the patient. Hot Calendula lotions are
generally preferable to cold, as they conserve the vitality of the injured parts.
Hot Calendula fomentations, intermittently applied, are far better than
poultices as applications to forming abscesses. If they do not abort the
process they favour the maturation and ultimate healing. C. R. Crosby (H. R.,
xii, 370) gives it internally (in the 3x) as well as externally. He has also had
excellent results from its use as a hot compress (an ounce to the pint) in
pneumonia and other internal inflammations. It is an excellent haemostatic in
tooth-extractions. Calendula has not been largely proved, but very definite
fever symptoms have been elicited, and cases of jaundice have been treated
with it successfully. Some of the symptoms are Irritability; easily frightened;
great tendency to start, nervousness hearing very acute. Drinking aggravates;
also damp weather. Cooper gives this modality: < in cloudy weather. (The
flowers close when a dark cloud passes over.) Drinking causes a shaking chill
or creeping crawls; even during the heat. Very sensitive to cold air. Nodosities
in breast. In Germany it is regarded as a "cancer cure." Almost all the
symptoms make their appearance during the chilly stage of the fever; he feels
most comfortable when walking about, or else when lying perfectly still. A
correspondent of the Hom. World, "C. W." (1891), mentions that a friend of
his who chewed for a few minutes a leaf of Calendula noticed that it entirely
removed for some days a difficulty of passing water such as is commonly met
with in old men. "C. W.," himself a pharmacist, noticed the following effect on
himself when making the fresh-plant tincture: "There was such a feeling as if
some overwhelming calamity was hovering over me as to be almost
unbearable. Three years ago, just after making the tincture, my old enemy
the gout nipped me in the middle of the spine, and in three days spoiled all
my powers of walking, and then the dreadful feeling became very much
exaggerated." His experience led him to conclude that Calendula has an
action on the spinal cord.
