Printed in the 1850 edition’s “A List of the Principal Diseases” as “—— (obstructions of)” under “Stomach” (the dash stands for the heading above it, or its first word); shown here as “Stomach — (obstructions of)”.
Modern literature has not yet been searched for this heading’s claims: it comes only from the 1850 index and has no search words yet.
A note on the heading
Plain sense
An “obstruction”, in Culpeper, reads as a stoppage of an organ’s working, the word he uses for the liver and spleen (our reading, as under Bowels (obstructions of), CND-0019); here it sits beside phlegm in the chest and a lost appetite. One sentence, and it does not describe the stomach’s obstruction.
What the entries treat
Two claims: one with a sentence, one from the index alone. Crosswort in wine “helps to expectorate the phlegm out of the chest, and is good for obstructions in the breast, stomach, or bowels, and helps a decayed appetite”. Rhubarb is listed in the index with no sentence naming it.
indigestion; loss of appetite (the sentence’s own words) — uncertain: the text does not let us tell.
How it reads today
A false friend. An obstruction of the stomach today is a mechanical blockage of its outlet; nothing in the one sentence is that. What Culpeper meant by the stomach’s obstruction the text does not say, so the mapping stays open. The word is under CND-0130.
ThinkDeep333, 2026-10-28 · draft, not yet checked. Offered beside Culpeper’s heading, never in its place; nothing here says whether a plant works.
Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.
2 claims: 1 with a sentence, 1 from the index alone
CrosswortCruciata laevipesCLM-0024271850 index, p. 58
The decoction of the herb in wine, helps to expectorate the phlegm out of the chest, and is good for obstructions in the breast, stomach, or bowels, and helps a decayed appetite.