Tamarack

Chronic, low-grade skin disease with thickened, scaly patches that resists ordinary treatment

Congested, boggy hemorrhoidal tissue with venous stasis and dull aching

Overview. American larch, known to the Eclectic physicians chiefly as tamarack, is a deciduous conifer of cold, moist ground across the northeastern United States and Canada, distinguished from the true European larch by its slender, non-drooping branches. The inner bark, and to a lesser extent the resin, was the part gathered and used. It held a modest but persistent place in nineteenth century American eclectic and physiomedical practice as an alterative and mild tonic astringent for chronic skin, glandular, and mucous membrane complaints.

Clinical Notes. Tamarack bark was reached for by the older American practitioners in cases where tissue seemed sluggish, congested, and slow to resolve rather than acutely inflamed: chronic eczema and psoriasis with thick, scaly plaques, boggy hemorrhoids, and low-grade catarrhal discharges from the bronchi or urinary tract.

Properties and Uses. The bark is a mild and pleasant relaxant, of moderately stimulating properties. It is among the gentle and agreeable alterants, influencing the skin, kidneys, liver, and bowels, and leaving behind a moderate tonic impression.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage. (For uses of Venice Turpentine, see Terebinthina Canadensis.) Larch-bark resembles the other terebinthinous barks, and in strong tincture has been used in chronic genito-urinary inflammations, chronic bronchitis to check secretions, and to control the bleeding of purpura hemorrhagica, and in passive hemorrhage. Dose of tincture, 5 to 30 drops.