Peculiarities of hemlock harvesting
Growing hemlock on garden plots is not only dangerous, but also pointless. The fact is that wild plants heal much better in general, but this is especially true of poisonous plants. For example, aconite in culture loses more than half of its properties (both poisonous and medicinal). When it comes to the medicinal properties of the plant, a lot depends on the composition of the soil, its temperature, moisture. We have already mentioned that hemlock herb prefers to grow in geopathogenic, that is, unfavorable, zones and in places with increased natural radioactivity.
As a medicinal raw material hemlock leaves at the beginning of flowering, flowers and unripe seeds together with umbrellas are used. Collection time is June. Leaves and flowers are harvested at the beginning of flowering and dried in the usual way in the shade in the open air separately from other plants. The seeds are collected and dried with umbrellas - just like the flowers and leaves. The seeds spill out of the dried umbrellas by themselves.
The stems are also used for medicinal purposes; the time to harvest them is July. Experienced people strongly recommend that when collecting hemlock inflorescences to approach the plant from the leeward side, otherwise you can be poisoned, because alkaloids are volatile substances.
Above was the time period for harvesting hemlock raw material for logging.
But this is only the optimal harvesting period, but that doesn't mean you can't harvest hemlock at other times of the year. I cite here as evidence an excerpt from a book by one of our most recognized hemlock experts, W. В. Tishchenko, "Plants against cancer", first published in Zaporozhye back in 1991. and reprinted at least a dozen times - in Kiev, Tula, Barnaul, Voronezh, Sverdlovsk and many other Russian cities.
" - I am often asked the question: what do I do if the hemlock has already bloomed? No problem... now and later hemlock will throw out young leaves near the roots - this is an excellent raw material, and later will go seeds - they also work well. Another thing is the quantitative ratio (I'll talk about that below) - you can't mince it too much. Say, put it through a meat grinder and other such mechanisms. Raw material is torn off, put in a half-liter jar and milled with the tips of scissors, after pouring it into another dish (three-liter bottle - this is about a course of treatment), in which it will be insisted. There should already be a little vodka in the dishes, because hemlock "burns" that is, collected in fresh form in a bottle or bag, it begins to self-heat, which does not benefit the raw material - practically it loses its properties. I pour a glass or two of vodka into the bottle and shake it up with ground hemlock as I fill it. Crushed raw material hemlock should be taken about a third of the bottle, (if crushed strongly), and if you take the inflorescences, they fill the bottle to the top and a little pressed, but the average amount poduchat the same. Then, upon arrival home, the bottle is filled with vodka to the top and put in the refrigerator or in a dark cool place.
You should not dial finely ground hemlock raw material excessively, then it will sour. And in vodka it is always necessary to observe the proportion: one third of the dishes - crushed raw material, and the rest (up to the top) - vodka". (I quote with abbreviations. - М. К.)
After harvesting hemlock raw material, it is stored in hermetically sealed glassware with a special marking, while in a strictly defined, separate from other plants as a strong poison. The shelf life is 2 years.
Medicinal dosage forms, their manufacture
The herb hemlock spotted hemlock is a potent drug that destroys cancer cells. Weakened by cancer intoxication, the body thanks to him gets strength to fight the terrible disease. In addition, hemlock herb has analgesic, anticonvulsant, sedative and anti-inflammatory properties.
And yet, first of all, it is still necessary to remember that this is a poisonous plant, and if not handled with great care, the consequences can be very serious - up to a fatal outcome.
Let's begin this section by paying tribute to the great healer of the past, Paracelsus. It is the recipe of the remedy, which was compiled by this legendary doctor, we will open the list of medicinal preparations and forms prepared from hemlock.
Extract according to Paracelsus
.Take the stems and leaves of fresh cicuta (cicuta is the old name for hemlock), squeeze out its juice and evaporate it in an earthen vessel over low heat, stirring all the time to avoid burning.
Evaporate until the liquid has the consistency of honey. Add to this as much powder of dried cicuta as is necessary to make a plastic mass. Roll this mass into pills of 0.5 g each.
For lack of fresh cicuta you can boil an extract from dried, but the resulting drug will be much less effective than prepared from a fresh plant. The treatment should be started with a very small dose and, gradually increasing, it is possible to reach 5 g.
Immediately after taking it, you should drink a decoction of elderflowers. You can sew dried cicuta leaves in a cloth and, having distinguished the bag in boiling water, apply as a poultice to the sore spot.
All these medications have the property of dissolving, resolving and calming.
Further mention should be made of modern clinical medicine. Essence of fresh hemlock spotted hemlock herb is used in the form of simple dilutions and is included in many complex preparations, including injectable. Let us now turn to those remedies that are used in folk medicine and ordinary people, and healers, and connoisseurs-herbalists..
