Important: Safety Warning
This page prescribes plants as medicine according to pre-modern medical theory. Several of the plants named are toxic, correct identification is difficult, and the doses given have no scientific basis. Do not ingest or apply any preparation described here.
In addition, this page presents medical treatment from an era before modern medicine. The remedies described are ineffective against the conditions named, and some of the ingredients or doses are harmful. Do not use them to treat any illness; consult a qualified medical professional.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Arnica
a genus of plants belonging to the order asteracex, or composites; also the English name of plants belonging to the above-mentioned genus, and especially of the A. montana, the mountain arnica, or German leopard's-bane. It is common in the alpine parts of Germany, Sweden, Lapland, and Switzerland. It is a perennial, of a slightly fetid odor, and a bitterish, acrid taste. Given in large quantities it produces deleterious effects, but the powdered leaves, in moderate doses, of 5 to 10 grains, have been found serviceable in paralysis, convulsions, amaurosis, chlorosis, gout, and rheumatism. As an outward application, arnica is in constant use as a remedy for sores, wounds, bruises, and ailments of a similar kind.