Herbs Ca – Co

Herbal Medicinal Properties

Catnip: Nepeta Cataria

(Mrs. M. Grieve)

Carminative, tonic, diaphoretic, refrigerant and slightly emmenagogue, specially antispasmodic, and mildly stimulating. Producing free perspiration, it is very useful in colds. Catnep Tea is a valuable drink in every case of fever, because of its action in inducing sleep and producing perspiration without increasing the heat of the system. It is good in restlessness, colic, insanity and nervousness, and is used as a mild nervine for children, one of its chief uses being, indeed, in the treatment of children’s ailments. The infusion of 1 OZ. to a pint of boiling water may be taken by adults in doses of 2
tablespoonsful, by children in 2 or 3 teaspoonsful frequently, to relieve pain and flatulence.
An injection of Catnep Tea is also used for colicky pains. The herb should always be infused, boiling will spoil it. Its qualities are somewhat volatile, hence when made it should be covered up. The tea may be drunk freely, but if taken in very large doses when warm, it frequently acts as an emetic. It has proved efficacious in nervous headaches and as an emmenagogue, though for the latter purpose, it is preferable to use Catnep, not as a warm tea, but to express the juice of the green herb and take it in tablespoonful doses, three times a day. An injection of the tea also relieves headache and hysteria, by its immediate action upon the sacral plexus. The young tops, made into a conserve, have been found serviceable for nightmare.
Catnep may be combined with other agents of a more decidedly diaphoretic nature. Equal parts of warm Catnep tea and Saffron are excellent in scarlet-fever and small-pox, as well as colds and hysterics. It will relieve painful swellings when applied in the form of a poultice or fomentation. Old writers recommended a decoction of the herb, sweetened with honey for relieving a cough, and Culpepper tells us also that “the juice drunk in wine is good for bruises”, and that “‘the green leaves bruised and made into an ointment is effectual for piles”,and that “the head washed with a decoction taketh away scabs, scurf, etc.”

Catnip: Unicaria Tomentosa

(James F. Balch, M. D.)

Cleanses the intestinal tract, enhances the action of white blood cells, and acts as an antioxidant and anti inflammatory. Good for intestinal problems and viral infections. May be helpful for peple with AIDS, arthritis, cancer, tumors, or ulcers.

Cayenne: Capsicum Minimum / Capsicum Anuum

(Mrs. M. Grieve)

A powerful local stimulant, with no narcotic effect largely used in hot climates as a condiment, and most useful in atony of the intestines and stomach. It should not be used in ordinary gastric catarrh. For persons addicted to drink it seems to be useful possibly by reducing the dilated blood-vessels and thus relieving chronic congestion. It is often added to tonics and is said to be unequalled for warding off diseases. Herbalists use it largely in pill form and powdered. Externally it is a strong rubefacient and acts gently with no danger of
vesication; is applied as a cataplasm or as a liniment; it can be mixed with 10 to 20 per cent of cotton-seed oil. The powder or the tincture is beneficial for relaxed uvula. A preparation in use in the West Indies called
Mandram, for weak digestion and loss of appetite, is made of thinly sliced and unskinned cucumbers, shallots, chives, or onions, lemon or lime juice, Madeira, and a few pods of bird pepper well mashed up in the liquids. It can be used as a chutney.

Chamomile: Matricaria Chamomilla

(Mrs. M. Grieve)

Carminative, sedative and tonic. The infusion of 1/2 oz. of the dried flowers to 1 pint of boiling water may be given freely in teaspoonful doses to children, for whose ailments it is an excellent remedy. It acts as a nerve sedative and also as a tonic upon the gastro-intestinal canal. It proves useful during dentition in cases of earache, neuralgic pain, stomach disorders and infantile convulsions. The flowers may also be used externally as a fomentation

Chaparral: Larrea Tridentata

(Humbart Santillo, B.S., M.H.)

Chaparral is one of nature’s best antibiotics used both internally and externally. It is good for treating bacterial, viral and parasitic infections. It is also an excellent addition to formulas in the treatment of kidney and bladder infections. As a fomentation it is applied topically for skin diseases, herpes, scabies, czema and arthritic pains. It contains an anti-tumor substance called NDGA (nordihydroguararetic acid) which has anti-cancer properties. It is very bitter and is usually mixed with other herbs or taken in tincture form. I do know several people who drink it as a tea. Chaparral is a good addition to hair rinses. Caution: Recommended for external use only. Taking it internally, especially in large doeses and/or for prolonged periods can cause liver damage.

Chaparral: Chaste Tree: Agnus Castus

(Mrs. M. Grieve)

(Called Vitex Agnus Castus in more modern times)

The fresh ripe berries are pounded to a pulp and used in the form of a tincture for the relief of paralysis, pains in the limbs, weakness, etc.
Edotor: This is a rather strange description for Chaste Tree, as its principle usage has been for the regulation of female hormones, and for that purpose is an excellent remedy for all sorts of ailments associated therewith, i.e., menopause, PMS, etc..

Chaste Tree: Chickweed: Stellaria Media

(Mrs. M. Grieve)

Demulcent, refrigerant. It is held in great repute amongherbalists, used mostly in the form of an ointment. The fresh leaves have been employed as a poultice for inflammation
and indolent ulcers with most beneficial results. A poultice of Chickweed enclosed in muslin is a sure remedy for a carbuncle or an external abscess. The water in which the Chickweed is boiled should also be used to bathe the affected part.

Gerard tells us that: ” the leaves of Chickweed boyled in water very soft, adding thereto some hog’s grease, the powder of Fenugreeke and Linseed, and a few roots of Marsh Mallows, and stamped to the forme of Cataplasme or pultesse, taketh away the swelling of the legs or any other part in a word it comforteth, digesteth, defendeth and suppurateth very notably.” He says that “the leaves boyled in vinegar and salt are good against mangines of the hands and legs, if they be bathed therewith.”
Combined with Elecampane, Chickweed has also been recommended as a specific for hydrophobia, and the juice, taken internally, for scurvy. The plant chopped and boiled in lard makes a fine green cooling ointment, good for piles and sores, and cutaneous diseases. It has also been employed as an application for ophthalmia. A decoction made with the fresh plant is good for constipation, and an infusion of the dried herb is efficacious in coughs and hoarseness. The dose of the fluid extract is 10 to 60 drops. Culpepper calls it “a fine, soft, pleasing herb”. It is found to be as effectual as Purs