Senecio Aureus

Senega was introduced to medical practice by Dr. Tennant, of Virginia, who

was led to test its properties through hearing that the Indians used it as an antidote to snake-bites.

As it relieved the symptoms of snake venom, Tennant concluded that it might also relieve

dyspnoea, cough, and hemoptysis arising from other causes, and gave it with success in cases of

pneumonia, pleurisy, and hydro-thorax (Teste). Other old-school practitioners used it as an

expectorant in chronic respiratory catarrh, acute phthisis, rheumatic fever, dropsies, incipient

cataract, croup. It is at present regarded as "a stimulant, diaphoretic, and expectorant, especially

in chronic bronchitis." It is in affections of the chest, eyes, and bladder that homceopaths have

found it of most service, and the extensive provings have supplied excellent data for prescribing.

• ▸Teste (who includes Seneg.
• ▸with Phos.
• ▸ac.
• ▸, Cham.
• ▸and Canth.
• ▸in his Conium group) considers it

specially suited to "females of slender and tall make, thin, but having retained a good deal of

sprightliness and moral power." He cites this case in which it gave great relief: Lady, 45, had

contusion, pressive, sometimes cramping, very old pains in chest, anterior wall of which was

sensitive to contact (on both sides); pains at times <, at times > in open air; respiratory mucus at

apices feeble, without rhoncus; dyspnoea when walking, and especially when going up stairs;

paroxysms of vesicular agitation in chest as if she would faint; catarrhal cough, not very

frequent, with ropy, not very profuse expectoration; spitting of red blood now and then;

paroxysms of palpitations, during which the rhythm of the heart changed to an almost

imperceptible tremor, and which, in some instances, lasted all night, and even longer; menses

regular; the palpitation generally took place after the period or in consequence of some moral

emotion. This patient was apparently of the type Teste mentions, and the case shows that the

correspondence of type must not be too closely considered, for other observers, including myself,

have found Seneg. more suited to plethoric, phlegmatic persons; persons tending to obesity; fat

persons of lax fibre; fat, chubby children; and old persons. Senega is one of the sources of

Saponin. It has a nauseous taste, and leaves a scraping sensation in the throat. Guernsey outlines

its action thus: "Where there is a great burning in the chest, either before or after coughing;

profuse secretion of mucus. Dryness of inner parts which are usually moist; dry skin. General

affections of the windpipe; left side of chest particularly; right eye; lower eyelids." Nash (who

has only obtained success with low attenuations of Seneg.) has cured many cases of "cough with

great accumulation of mucus which seems to fill the chest, with much rattling, wheezing, and

difficult breathing." It is especially valuable, he says, with old people, but works well with

others. I have used Seneg. only in the 30th, and have found it answer to its indications

exceedingly well. In the case of a very stout elderly lady, of phthisical family history, who had

pneumonia of both bases, especially right, very violent paroxysmal cough, with ropy, difficult

expectoration tinged with blood, Seneg. 30 quickly relieved a very dangerous condition when

other remedies had failed. Leading indications for Seneg. in chest cases are: (/) Great

accumulation of clear albuminous mucus, which is difficult to expel. (2) Great soreness of walls

of chest. (3) Pressure on chest as though lungs were forced back to spine. Whooping-cough in

fat, chubby children, clear mucus like white of egg, difficult to raise, cough < towards evening.

The soreness of the chest walls makes Seneg. appropriate to cases of pleurodynia. There is

hoarseness, and the throat is so dry and sensitive it hurts the patient to talk. Cough often ends in

• ▸sneezing.
• ▸Clinton Enos (quoted A.
• ▸H.
• ▸, xxiv.
• ▸253) relates this case: A very fat girl, zt.
• ▸10, with

cold, damp feet and hands and sweating about the head, had spells of sneezing for two years,

ever since whooping-cough. Several spells a day lasting about half an hour. Sharp pains in chest

and temples during the attacks. In nose a large quantity of mucus with stuffed-up feeling. One

• ▸dose of Seneg.
• ▸200 removed the whole trouble in a week.
• ▸A.
• ▸R.
• ▸Macmichel (NV.
• ▸A.
• ▸J.
• ▸H.
• ▸, xl.
• ▸824)

• ▸cured Mrs.
• ▸B.
• ▸, 40, of acute Catarrhal laryngitis which had lasted ten days with Seneg.
• ▸1.
• ▸There

was hoarseness; hawking of thick, tenacious mucus (profuse, a quart in twenty-four hours) from

larynx, especially in morning, with burning sensation. Relief set in within three hours from first

dose. Seneg. acts on the eyes even more powerfully than on the nose, producing pains,

inflammation both of the exterior and interior of the eye and lids, and much disorder of vision.

The eye troubles are < when looking intently at an object; and another modality brought out in

the proving has taken the rank of a keynote: > Bending head backwards. The symptom in which

it was first noticed was this: "When walking towards the setting sun he seemed to see another

smaller sun hover below the other, assuming a somewhat oval shape when looking down,

disappearing on bending the head backwards, and on closing the eyes." The prover took from 40

to 60 drops of the tincture. "< Bending head forward" and "< stooping" are scarcely less

characteristic. Eye symptoms as an accompaniment of head symptoms indicate Seneg.: "Violent

rush of blood to head when stooping, especially to eyeballs, where a painful pressure is

experienced." Extreme tenderness is another note of Seneg.: "A sort of aching pain in head, in

sinciput, and occiput, not < by pressure; < sitting in warm room; accompanied with pressure in

eyes, which did not bear touch." Pressure; dulness; heaviness are the leading head sensations.

• ▸There is painful sensitiveness of hearing.
• ▸The digestive organs are disordered.
• ▸Seneg.
• ▸has been

used as an emetic. The urinary organs are very prominently affected, irritability and catarrh being

the leading effects. There is frequent urging, scalding in urethra before or after micturition, and

the urine is loaded with mucous threads. Peculiar Sensations of Seneg. are: Eyes, as if they were

pressed out; as if eyeballs were being expanded; as if soap in eyes. As if red pepper throughout

• ▸nostrils and air passages.
• ▸As if chest too narrow.
• ▸Dyspncea as from stagnation in lungs.
• ▸As if

• ▸lungs pushed back to spine.
• ▸As if chest would burst.
• ▸Wrist as if sprained.
• ▸Joints as if lame.
• ▸Seneg.

has the gnawing hunger and empty feeling well marked. It is predominantly left-sided in its

• ▸action.
• ▸The symptoms are < by touch and pressure (but pressure on left side >).
• ▸< Rubbing.
• ▸Most

symptoms < rest; > walking in open air. Rest > dry cough. Lying down = tickling in larynx; fear

• ▸of suffocation.
• ▸Lying on right side = pain in chest.
• ▸Motion = pain under sternum.
• ▸Motion of arms

= soreness of walls of chest. < Going up stairs. Stepping hard, walking fast, or running = pain

through mediastinum; piercing pain between scapule. > Bending head back. < Stooping;

• ▸bending forward.
• ▸< Morning; and night.
• ▸Whooping cough < towards evening.
• ▸< In warm air; in

• ▸warm room.
• ▸Lachrymation, sore chest.
• ▸Cough and chilliness < in open or cold air.
• ▸Sweat >.
• ▸<

Looking intently at an object.

Inability to fix mind upon any one subject. Despondent. Nervous and irritable.

Hypochondriacal melancholy, with great readiness to take offence.—Excessive

anguish, often with accelerated and hasty respiration.—Liveliness, with irritability, and

disposition to give way to paroxysms of rage and fury.

Where there is great burning in chest, either before or after coughing; profuse

secretion of mucus.—Dryness of inner parts which are usually moist: dry skin.—Diseases of

• ▸mucous membranes.
• ▸—Dropsy of internal organs (esp.
• ▸after inflammation).
• ▸—Inflammation of

• ▸internal organs.
• ▸—General affections of windpipe; |.
• ▸side of chest particularly; r.
• ▸eye; lower

eyelids; < from looking fixedly at any object for a long time.—Sensation of great general

lassitude, with trembling, esp. in lower limbs.—Great moral and physical depression, with

stretching of limbs, heaviness, emptiness, and throbbing in head.—Great weakness, which seems

• ▸to proceed from the chest.
• ▸—Fainting, when walking in open air.
• ▸—Several symptoms, esp.
• ▸those of

chest, are < by repose, and > by walking in open air.

• ▸Dull, stupefying headache.
• ▸Wavelike dizziness from occiput to sinciput.
• ▸Sharp pains over left eye, and through left temple.
• ▸Fullness of nasal passages; burning; sneezing; profuse flow.

Head bewildered, with dizziness.—Feeling of confusion and emptiness in head, with

aching of eyes (or pressure in them < by touch), and obscuration of sight.—Vertigo, with noise in

ears.—Headache which also affects the eyes, is < by heat of a room, and > in open air, or ina

• ▸cold temperature.
• ▸—Pressive pain in forehead and orbits after dinner, esp.
• ▸1.
• ▸side of head, > in

open air.—Drawing in sinciput and temples, extending to face.—Sanguineous congestion in head

and eyes when stooping.—Pulsative cephalalgia, with aching of the eyes——Shuddering and

itching in scalp.—Eruption on head.

Pain in eyes as if dilated and pushed out of orbits.—Aching of eyes in evening, esp. by

candle-light and when stooping.—Congestion of blood in eyes when stooping.—Burning

sensation in eyes when reading, and writing (in evening).—Swelling of lids, with burning

• ▸pressure and tingling.
• ▸—Vesicles on tarsal edges —Styes.
• ▸—Dryness of eyes.
• ▸—Lachrymation in

open air, and when gazing intently at an object Accumulation of hardened dry humour on lids

• ▸and lashes in morning.
• ▸—Jerking and spasmodic drawing in lids; in r.
• ▸outer canthus.
• ▸—Convulsive

• ▸contraction of lower lids.
• ▸—Fixedness of look.
• ▸—Oculo-motor paralysis.
• ▸—Opacity of

cornea.—Double vision > by bending head backward.—When walking towards the setting sun he

seemed to see another smaller sun hover below the other, assuming a somewhat oval shape when

looking down, disappearing on bending the head backwards and on closing the

eyes.—Sensitiveness of eyes to light—Confusion of the letters and dazzling of sight when

reading.—Weakness of sight and flickering before the eyes when reading; must wipe them

often.—All objects appear as if in the shade.—Obscuration of sight, with glistening before eyes, <

from rubbing them.—Brilliant spots before sight—Photophobia.

Aching in ears during mastication.—A cooling sensation frequently extends through lI.

ear.—Painful acuteness of hearing.

Itching in the interior of the nose.-—Smell of pus, or as of a malignant ulcer, in

nose.—Sneezing so often and so violently head grows dizzy; followed by thin coryza; with pain

as of excoriation in chest.—Troublesome dryness of Schneiderian membrane.

Teeth very sensitive. Sharp, cutting pain left side. Dryness of fauces, throat, and mouth.

• ▸Sensation as if muscles of (1.
• ▸half of) face were paralysed.
• ▸—Heat in face.
• ▸—Burning

vesicles in commissures of lips, on upper lip (and in corners of mouth).

Dryness of the mouth, esp. in the morning.—Copious secretion of saliva —Putrid

breath —Tongue: yellowish white or slimy in morning, with slimy, unpleasant taste; loaded with

a white coating —Burning sensation in throat, mouth, tongue and palate.

The teeth are set on edge. —Digging in the teeth during inspiration (of damp and cold

air).

Sore throat, as if it were excoriated and raw.—Scraping, burning sensation and

dryness in throat; with irritation, which provokes coughing and embarrassed

speech.—Accumulation of tough mucus in throat, which it is difficult to hawk up.—Sensation of

constriction in the gullet.—Irritation and roughness in cesophagus; burning sensation as if

abraded; followed by copious discharge of mucus.—Inflammatory swelling of palate, throat, and

uvula.—Copious accumulation of viscid mucus in throat and palate, which is detached in small

clots.

Dry mouth, throat, and fauces. Burning in pharynx, raw feeling in naso-pharynx, must swallow, though painful.

Sour eructations; nausea.

Impaired taste —Metallic taste in mouth, or taste of urine—Clammy taste in

• ▸mouth.
• ▸—Anorexia, esp.
• ▸in morning.
• ▸—Gnawing hunger, with sensation of emptiness in

stomach.—Violent, burning thirst.

Risings.—Eructations; which > the mucus and hawking of mucus from the

stomach.—Loathing and nausea, with inclination to vomit, which seems to proceed from the

stomach, with retching —Vomiting, with diarrhoea and great anguish.—Spasms (colic) in

stomach, with pressive pain, also at night.—Pressure below pit of stomach.—Burning sensation in

stomach.—Sensation of emptiness in stomach.

Pain around umbilicus; spreads all over abdomen; better, stool. Thin, watery stool, intermingled with hard lumps of feces (Ant crud). Straining at stool; thin, dark, bloody, with tenesmus.

Boring and digging pains in abdomen, esp. in epigastrium and

hypochondria.—Gnawing in (upper) abdomen.—Burning and squeezing (oppression) in

epigastrium during an inspiration.—Drawing between the integuments of the abdomen, as by a

foreign body.—Flatulent affections, with a sensation of a general bearing down towards

hypogastrium.

Bowels (before fairly regular) began acting in gushes, large stools occasionally, but

in no way regular.

Slow, hard, and scanty evacuation, with effort, and followed by pressure in

anus and rectum.—Frequent, loose evacuations of consistence of pap.—Diarrhcea, with vomiting

and great anxiety.—Watery stools spirting from anus.

Stool thin, watery, bloody; with tenesmus and colic; catarrhal

dysentery; evening.—Stool copious with great debility and prostration; flatulence;

morning.—Stool in hard lumps mixed with yellow mucus.

Diminished secretion of urine.—Increased secretion of urine.—Wetting the

bed at night.—Urine frothy, or mixed with slimy filaments, and becoming turbid and cloudy

when it cools (or deposits a thick sediment, yellowish red, with upper stratum yellow and

flocculent).—Reddish sediment, with flakes of mucus in urine.—Sensation of an obstruction in

urethra when urinating. —Shootings and burning sensation in urethra after and during the

emission of urine.—Urging and scalding before and after micturition.—Irritability of bladder;

subacute and chronic catarrh.

• ▸Scanty, high-colored, bloody, with much mucus and tenesmus.
• ▸Great heat and constant urging.
• ▸Nephritis.
• ▸Irritable bladder of children, with headache.
• ▸Renal colic (Pareira; Ocim; Berb).

• ▸Menses retarded, suppressed.
• ▸Functional amenorrhoea of young girls with backache.
• ▸Before menses, inflammatory conditions of throat, chest, and bladder.
• ▸After menstruation commences, these improve.
• ▸Anaemic dysmenorrhoea with urinary disturbances.
• ▸Premature and too profuse menses (Calc; Erig).

Menses too soon; has to press her 1. side at tenth rib to relieve

gnawing pain.—Slimy leucorrhcea.

Lascivious dreams, with involuntary emissions. Prostate enlarged. Dull, heavy pain in spermatic cord, extending to testicles.

Increased sexual desire, with painful erections.—Slight burning in

glans when urinating. —Paroxysmal cramp-like pain in region of glans.—Tickling of prepuce and

glans.

• ▸Acute inflammatory conditions of upper respiratory tract.
• ▸Hoarseness.
• ▸Cough loose, with labored inspiration.
• ▸Chest sore and raw.
• ▸Dyspnoea on ascending (Calc).
• ▸Dry teasing cough, stitching chest pains.

Great dryness of the larynx, esp. in morning and forenoon.—Sudden

hoarseness when reading aloud.—Hoarseness and roughness in throat.—Hacking cough from

irritation in larynx.—Tickling and burning sensation in larynx, esp. when lying down, with

danger of suffocation Abundant accumulation of mucus in larynx and trachea, with short

respiration.—Tearing and stinging in larynx and trachea.—Dry and shaking cough, excited by a

tickling in larynx, < in open air (and from walking fast).—Expectoration of transparent and

yellow mucus when coughing.—Cough, with profuse expectoration of viscid mucus.—Shaking

cough, like whooping-cough, from burning and tickling in larynx in morning, with copious

expectoration of tough, white mucus (like white of egg).—The cough is < in evening and at night,

during rest, in warm room, when sitting, when lying on the (1.) side.

Dyspneea, with sensation of stagnation in lungs.—Shortness of breath when walking

quickly and going up stairs.—Troublesome oppression of chest, esp. in open air and on stooping,

as if thorax too narrow.—Pressure in chest, esp. during repose, and in morning, or at night, on

waking.—Great sensibility in interior coats of chest when touched.—Squeezing and spasmodic

pains in chest, with agitation and anxiety, esp. when lying on side.—Certain movements cause

pain, as if chest were too tight; disposed to expand the chest; this leaves soreness.—Burning, sore

pain under sternum, esp. during motion and on deep inspiration.—Orgasms of blood; oppression

• ▸with flushes of heat; oppression, esp.
• ▸during rest.
• ▸—Shootings in chest, esp.
• ▸when coughing and

taking an inspiration.—Burning, aching, and stitches in |. half of chest; < lying on r.

• ▸side.
• ▸—Pleurisy r.
• ▸side of chest with thickening.
• ▸—Pain as from excoriation in chest, < by external

pressure, movement, coughing, and sneezing.—Soreness of walls of chest on moving arms, esp.

|.—Great soreness in walls of chest and great accumulation of clear albuminous mucus which is

difficult to expectorate; pressure on chest as if lungs were pushed back to spine.—Accumulation

of mucus in chest, larynx, and trachea.—Phthisis mucosa; hydrothorax.—Profuse secretion of

mucus in lungs of old people —Drawing and burning sensation in the chest.—Tingling in the

chest.—Violent congestion of blood in chest, with pulsation and ebullition, leading even to

syncope.—The majority of symptoms are most violent during repose, but do not obstruct

respiration.

Aching, burning pain in chest becomes seated in region of heart, whence it radiates

to 1. axillaa—Aching and pressure in heart region; during deep inspiration.—Violent shaking

palpitation of heart.

Aching and drawing in back and shoulder-blades, as well as between and under

shoulder-blades.—Pain under r. shoulder-blade, as if chest should burst, when coughing or

drawing a long breath Burning sensation and subcutaneous itching over whole back.

Paralytic drawing in forearms as far as fingers.—Anxious starting and jerking

in upper arm during siesta.—Pain as if sprained in wrists —Sticking, crawling, prickling in palms.

Sensation of excessive lassitude in legs, and of paralysis in

joints—Wrenching pain in hip-joint—Trembling in legs.—Great weakness of feet, esp. in

forenoon.

Great drowsiness, with unpleasant dreams. Nervousness and sleeplessness.

Great disposition to sleep in evening, and deep, lethargic sleep soon after going to

bed.—Sleep, towards morning, disturbed by affections of chest, or else by cramps in stomach.—In

the morning one frequently wakens from dyspncea.

Pulse hard and frequent.—Frequent shivering, proceeding from lassitude in

limbs.—Shuddering in back, with heat in face, burning sensation in the eyes, dyspnoea, shootings

in the chest, and throbbings in the head.—Chilliness and chill almost only in the open air, with

weakness in legs and dyspnoea.—Shudders over the back, with heat in face and chest

• ▸symptoms.
• ▸—Sudden flushes of heat.
• ▸—Skin becomes warmer and moister.
• ▸—Feeling of warmth in

|. half of face.—Profuse perspiration commenced and the disagreeable symptoms were quite

removed.—Profuse diaphoresis.—Perspiration wanting.

• ▸Amblyopia.
• ▸Ascites.
• ▸Asthma.
• ▸Bladder, irritable; catarrh of.
• ▸Blepharitis ciliaris.

• ▸Bronchitis.
• ▸Constipation.
• ▸Cornea, opacity of.
• ▸Cough.
• ▸Enuresis.
• ▸Facial paralysis.
• ▸Hay-fever.

• ▸Hydrothorax.
• ▸Hypopion.
• ▸Influenza.
• ▸Iritis.
• ▸Esophagus, stricture of; catarrh of.
• ▸Phthisis mucosa.

• ▸Pleurisy.
• ▸Pneumonia.
• ▸Snake-bites.
• ▸Sneezing: fits of; at end of cough.
• ▸Styes.
• ▸Throat, sore.

Whooping-cough.

• ▸Antidoted by: Bry.
• ▸; also Arn.
• ▸, Bell.
• ▸, Camph.
• ▸Followed well by: Calc.
• ▸, Pho.
• ▸, Lyc.
• ▸,

• ▸Sul.
• ▸Compare: Saponin (a derivative of Senega root).
• ▸In bronchial affections, Ammon.
• ▸Fat,

plethoric people disposed to catarrhs, Calc. Muscular asthenopia, loss of voice, paralysis (facial,

• ▸&c.
• ▸), Caust.
• ▸Laryngeal and pulmonary catarrh, Pho.
• ▸Bronchial catarrh, Spo.
• ▸Whooping-cough,

• ▸Coc.
• ▸c.
• ▸, K.
• ▸bi.
• ▸(Seneg.
• ▸clear phlegm, cough < towards evening; Coc.
• ▸c.
• ▸clear phlegm < morning;

• ▸K.
• ▸bi.
• ▸yellow phlegm < morning).
• ▸Pleurodynia, pleurisy, Bry.
• ▸Mucous phthisis, Stn.

Compare: Senecio Jacobaea (cerebro-spinal irritation, rigid muscles, chiefly of neck and shoulders; also, in cancer); Aletris; Caulop; Sep.

Tincture, to third potency. Senecin, first trituration.

Senecio is to be studied in relation to young girls with menstrual

irregularities. Those who have suppression of the menstrual flow

from getting wet, from getting the feet wet, those who have menor^

rhagia, a copious menstrual flow which continues until they are anaemic ; and those also who suffer from dysmenorrrhoea, the pains being

most violent. In this remedy, with these general features, the young

girl gradually tends toward catarrhal phthisis. The menstrual flow is

suppressed sometimes many months, she begins to look pale, has a dry,

hacking cough, with bleeding from th^ lungs instead of the menstrual

• ▸flow, a vicarious spitting of blood.
• ▸Tjiiere is a catarrhal state throughout the chest.
• ▸They are pallid and \feakly girls.
• ▸They tell you they

have lost their menstrual flow, and have a chronic cough, are sensitive

to every draft of air, are always taking cold and finally expectorate

profusely. The phthisis may go on as catarrh of the chest for years,

but at last a miliary tuberculosis sets in and takes the patient off with

what is known as acute consumption. Especially is this condition associted with disorder of the menstrual flow and a general catarrhal

state. ''Phthisis, with obstructed menstruation.'' When the symptoms

agree in this kind of a case Senecio is a most useful medicine for

establishing the menstrual flow. You will know that it is acting well

by the fact that the cough gradually diminishes. Of course a great

many medicines will be suited to such general states, but this one has

an unusually marked and special relation to these cases. In certain

regions Senecio has been used as a domestic medicine, an old woman's

remedy for bringing on the menstrual flow.

You will be struck on reading over this remedy with the tendency to

haemorrhage from all the mucous membranes of the body. There is

coryza Avith nose-bleed ; spitting of blood from the throat and chest ;

haemorrhage from the lungs ; a catarrhal condition of all the mucous

membranes with a tendency to haemorrhage : congestion and itiflatn*

ia{

Sharp stitches here and there; rheumatic pains in joints.—Skin dry and nails very

brittle.