Anyone know the truth.........
Posts: 315 | From USA | Registered: May 2005
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SunRa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3559
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I'm also looking into the Hemlock FIR saunas and have MCS.
I read that Poisonous Hemlock (the tea you are probably referring to) is a weed and has nothing to do with the Hemlock tree. I havent found anything indicating Hemlock wood could be toxic to us, but who knows...
Posts: 1563 | From MA | Registered: Jan 2003
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You are right, it is the weed that is toxic, I researched it (after I sent the message-Lyme brain) The SaunaGen suggested me buying a Hemlock board, untreated, take it home and sniff it for awhile.
Well, I am having trouble finding Hemlock, I will call them to see if they could mail me a wood chip. I like the price of the SaunaGen and you can get it in a wk, the other (MCS ones) build it after you place the order (takes 4wks) Ugh....
Posts: 315 | From USA | Registered: May 2005
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treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
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quote:Originally posted by Littlesprout: They claim it is non-toxic and I have MCS. http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/wood2.html This site claims it is toxic (the dust) Didn't people die from drinking Hemlock Tea?
Anyone know the truth.........
The plant is occasionally mistaken for parsnips, due to its clusters of white tuberous roots; this is an often fatal error, as the Cicuta is extremely poisonous. Indeed, some consider water hemlock to be North America's most toxic plant.
From the flat needles of the evergreen comes hemlock tea (no relation to the poison brew--made from a ground plant--that killed Socrates), a favorite of woodsmen since logging days.
the evergreen forest Hemlock tree is not to be confused with the poisonous parsley-like weed of the same name. Visually it would be easier to confuse Hemlock with spruce or balsam fir trees. Hemlock needles are flat like the fir, but are much shorter and have a short stem attaching them to the twig (whereas balsam fir needles have no stem).
Hemlock seedlings need moist ground to germinate, but are very tolerant of shade. Like the yellow birch they will even grow on top of old stumps. When the European settlers first came to North America, they found big pure stands of hemlock amidst foliage overhead. This dense foliage also holds most of the snow that falls, making this area of the forest floor a comfortable safe haven for deer in the winter.
Most of the old growth was harvested by the late 1800's for the tannin found din great quantity in the inner bark. Trees were felled, stripped, and left in a tangle to rot. More recently the Hemlock stands in the Algonquin park were greatly reduced to provide rail tires for the Toronto Ontario subways, which in return resulted in substantial reductions in the deer populations.
The strength of the tannin in Hemlock bark makes it an excellent astringent. However, this high astringency has DANGEROUS ABORTIVE EFFECTS and therefore the bark should not be taken during pregnancy. Large doses can also knot up the stomach ( a property which might however render it a good remedy for diarrhea).
The first European to be introduced to the hemlock tree was Jacques Cartier, the 16th century French explorer in 1525. When his crew was in danger from sickening and dying from scurvy he asked the neighbouring Iroquois people for help. They supplied him with the bark and leaves of "annedda" ( which is the Onandaga name for Hemlock) and instructions on its use. Boiled in water the tea was drunk every two days and poultices of the tea were applied to the swollen and sick limbs of Cartier's men. Cartier subsequently reported that " AS soon as they had drunk they felt better, which they found a true and evident miracle for of all the sicknesses they had suffered from after having drunk two or three times they recovered their health and were cured, so that some of the company who had had syphilis for more than five or six years before getting this sickness (scurvy) by this medicine were completely cured".
Cartier's journal goes on, praising God, expressing delight and amazement comparing the benefits of this tree medicine to European medicine and saying that it was a very large tree that was used up in eight healing days. Sadly, being unfamiliar with the Hemlock, Cartier recorded the cure but failed to describe the tree well enough to save the hundreds of French explorers and settlers who died from scurvy in the next 30 years. Champlain looked all over for " annedda" to help his people but he could no longer ask the Iroquois for help because he'd begun a long war with them.
Since then people have drunk Hemlock tea for its high vitamin C content. The Iroquois drank it for centuries as their common table tea, especially in the winter when they were limited to stored food and needed the extra vitamins and minerals.
Medicinally, Hemlock tea was imbibed for colds, hay fevers, sore throats , blood purification, coughs, rheumatism, venereal disease, inflammations of the respiratory system, vaginitis, diarrhea, pains in the abdomen, the grippe and to help bring on a sweat, especially in a sweat lodge or sauna.
One teaspoon of the inner bark, twigs an/or needles simmered in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes is a common recipe. You'll find the bitterness caused by the tea's high tannic acid content will make small doses preferable, though the Menomini people recommended a quartful to cure a cold.
the astringency of the tea was used as a douche fluid or in tampons for leudorrhea, vaginitis, cervical erosions, and prolapsed uterus; in an enema fluid for diarrhea and colon problems; and as a gargle and mouthwash for canker sores, sore gums pyorrhea and sore throat. Here the tea recipe is stronger; that is 6 teaspoons simmered half an hour in 6 ounces of water.
Externally the tea was used as an antiseptic and astringent wash and/or poultice for wounds, bleeding cuts , burns gangrene, old sores, ulcer, and skin inflammations and afflictions such as swelling and chafing.
The pitch or gum can be heated to soften it for use as a plaster for rheumatic pains and as a rubefacient or a counter-irritant. The oil distilled from the gum can be used as a stimulating liniment for rheumatism, croup and the like.
The boughs were used by the Iroquois to line storage pits for corn and other vegetables. Many people have used the piled- up boughs as a soft bed; it is reported to be restful and invigorating. Similarly the boughs steeped in a hot bath for hours will reward the patient bather with a refreshing slumber. Pioneers often used the branches as brooms.
The tincture (?) was used as a diuretic and a remedy for gastric irritation and colic, as it corrects acidity ( in the digestive system?).
The cone seeds and needles are eaten by grouse and the twigs are browsed by deer, hare, rabbits, and red squirrels, while porcupines love the bark.
SPEAKING OF HEMLOCK:
I can verify that the inner bark of Hemlock stops bleeding fast. A touch of carelessness in the woods resulted in the butt of an axe splitting my scalp open. With blood pouring from my head, I grabbed an axe, approached the nearest Hemlock, asked for its assistance, chipped off the outer bark from an area the size of my fist, then carefully removed some inner bark. Thanking the Tree, I chewed the inner bark to a pulp and placed it on the wound. The bleeding stopped and stayed stopped.
Once home, I washed the wound and renewed the Hemlock poultice (and took a long rest). I kept on a poultice of Hemlock for a day, after which I switched to a poultice of the inner bark of White Pine. I did this because all bleeding was stopped and my research showed Pine as a better vulnerary (promoting healing of flesh and bone) for the long healing process.
Pine proved to be an excellent vulnerary. I kept the Pine poultice on constantly for a few days, then I used it for just a couple hours a day for a week. There is now no visible trace of the inch long wound.
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